GENEVA — It was a real-life nightmare, Wendy Layton said, to watch firefighters break down the walls of her apartment.
Standing on the roadside as ashes floated through the air last week, Layton’s knees shook, her voice cracked and her emotional strength wavered as smoke billowed out of her third-floor East Main Street apartment.
Layton, her husband, Delbert, and their 6-year-old daughter Ashley were not injured in the fire and didn’t lose much of their belongings, she said, but they are homeless and now need help finding a new place to live.
“We were very fortunate that we didn’t lose that much in the fire,” Layton said. “Our bed and kitchen table were ruined, and we had a lot of smoke damage, but our clothes and other items were safe.”
“I thank God every day that it wasn’t worse,” she said.
The Laytons are staying with family while they clean or launder all their belongings and search for a new place to live. The family had no fire insurance.
Geneva Fire Chief Doug Starkey said the cause of the fire is listed as “undetermined.”
Layton said she doesn’t feel she can return to the multifamily dwelling at 386 E. Main St., even as landlord Kenneth Piper arranges to have the three apartments renovated and restored.
“I just don’t think I will be comfortable there ever again,” she said.
Layton is asking landlords in the Geneva area to help her find a new two-bedroom apartment for her family.
“We are definitely on a budget,” she said. “We are not picky about where we live, just that we would like to stay in the Geneva area so Ashley can stay in her school.”
Ashley Layton is a first-grade student at Spencer Elementary.
Layton’s mother, Sue Ferguson, said he daughter can afford $350 a month in rent.
To help the Layton family, call Wendy Layton (440-228-2645).
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