GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Fire damaged the August Manor Apartments in Green Bay on Tuesday night. Timia McKinstry lives near the complex and says she witnessed her neighbor’s tragedy. 

“The building was so much on fire, you could not see the stairs, you couldn’t see the stairs. They pulled people out [first], everybody got out the building and they made sure everybody was safe first,” said McKinstry. 

A total of 35 people are without a home now because of the fire at the 24-unit apartment complex. Lieutenant Nick Craig says you hear a fire alarm take action as soon as possible. 

“The big takeaway here is in apartment living you’re at the mercy of everyone else in the building and you need to take smoke alarms seriously. A lot of the residents did hear the smoke alarms and started to evacuate before we got there but some didn’t heed the warning right away and made it a little bit more difficult to get out, we had to help them through the window,” explained Craig. 

McKinstry believes this tragedy will bring the community together. 

“Pray to God that is what I would say to them, pray to God. Especially after ‘yeah we will help them’, why not help them,” said McKinstry.

The fire caused an estimated $250,000 of damage to the building, and the cause of the fire is yet to be determined.