Communities Raise Funds For Barber Shop, Family, Affected By Fire

LAKEVIEW, NY—A devastating fire early Sunday morning ripped through a building in Lakeview, destroying businesses and apartments. Up to 30 people are now displaced from the seven-alarm fire at Woodfield Road and Eagle Avenue.

Friends and neighbors looking to help those affected have created and donated to two GoFundMe fundraisers.

Racquel Chippy organized a fundraiser for the Mills family.

"The Mills family and other residents lost everything due to a fire that destroyed all the apartments in their building. We are grateful that no one was hurt and [they] made it out alive and well. We are asking for donations to help them get clothing and food as they are without," she wrote on the GoFundMe page.

As of Monday afternoon, the fundraiser had collected $1,545 toward a goal of $5,000 for the family.

Small businesses were also destroyed, including Star Salon barber shop at 681 Woodfield Road. Owner Danny Crawford wrote on a GoFundMe page that he was looking for assistance after the loss of his shop has put him "out of work."

Crawford told News 12 after the fire: "I just got no words for it.”

“As you can see…you got people who are homeless right now. You have other entrepreneurs here. You got nowhere to go on Monday morning for work or home.”

Another small business owner, Natalie Flowers, started a fundraiser after her eyelash extension shop Lasheez Secret Academy was affected by the fire.

150 firefighters battled the blaze before it was extinguished. The building housing the barber shop, the Mills' home, and the homes of 17 adults and 13 children in total will be demolished.