12/29/2023
On Christmas Eve, the two went to visit Matt’s family for the holiday but at around 6:30 Christmas morning, they woke up to a phone call.
“Our best friend who we’re actually staying with right now called us in the morning and she sounded very scared,” Martin said. “She’s actually been through a house fire about three years ago. So, it’s now a shared experience. But it was very scary. It didn’t feel real.”
In shock, the two stayed with Martin’s family as long as they could.
“We were at my parents’ house, and we knew that the apartment was on fire,” Millsaps said. They communicated to us that they had gotten a couple of our cats, luckily, we had our dog with us. So, we just hurriedly opened presents with my family, and then we just rushed up here to begin looking at the aftermath.”
Chris added, “We didn’t want to come here and just watch the building burn,” Martin added. “So, we came after they put it out.”
Two of their cats were rescued from the fire, but a third didn’t survive. Many of their possession were unsalvageable.
“You walk in, and everything is just covered in black,” Matt said. “Everything that we’ve worked hard to build for ourselves is just soaking wet or filled with soot. It smells like a bonfire.”
A friend has set up a fundraiser to help while they wait on insurance and find another place to stay.
“Right now, we’re sleeping on an air mattress,” Millsaps. “We don’t really know where we’re going next, and we don’t have a space to hold those physical items.”
No one was at home during that time, but they did lose their home and a beloved pet. Matt Millsaps and Chris Martin have lived at The Kentshyrs Apartments for the last three years.
