By Joel Martin

Senior writer

Donations are being solicited for a LaGrange family that lost all of its possessions in a duplex apartment fire early Thursday morning at 333 Young’s Mill Road.

Kimberly Crenshaw and her three children escaped unharmed from their apartment, and Faye Irwin was rescued by a neighbor from the adjoining unit.

Crenshaw, who had been frying pork chops, went to check on her 8-month-old daughter, Alayna, and the grease caught fire.

Crenshaw said she heard a noise and saw the stove in flames.

“I tried to put it out, but it was no use, and I got the kids out of there,” she said.

As she and the baby were leaving the kitchen, the microwave and light fixtures exploded, she said, adding, “It was an awful fire. I don’t know how we got out of there without getting hurt.”

She and her 16-year-old son, Dillion, knocked on Irwin’s door, but couldn’t get a response. A neighbor across the street, David Dansby, knocked out a window and awakened the 69-year-old Irwin, then helped her to safety. She had recently gotten a total hip replacement.

A fire wall kept the flames from spreading into her apartment. The headboard of her bed was against the wall, but Irwin was unaware of the raging fire on the other side.

“She could have been overcome with smoke” if Dansby hadn’t broken the window, said Irwin’s son, Larry Irwin, who owns the duplex. “She needed to be out of there. I’m just very thankful.”

Irwin said he feels sorry for Crenshaw, who had gotten two months behind on rent payments, but recently caught up with the help of her income tax refund and first unemployment check. She had been laid off in November from Yasufuku, where she was a quality control technician.

“I was about to be able to breathe again” Crenshaw said, but then the fire took everything. She has just paid the light bill and the rest of her money was in a cabinet, but “I didn’t give it a second thought,” she said. “I was worried about getting the kids out.”

Irwin said she can have her apartment back when he’s finished remodeling in a couple of months, and she’ll have new appliances and carpet.

The local Red Cross chapter took care of the family’s immediate needs and LaGrange Personal Aid Association set them up for a week at Stay Lodge on Whitesville Street.

The Kimberly Crenshaw Family Assistance Fund has been established at Bank of America on Main Street, and people also may donate clothing and other items, although “I know times are tight for everyone these days,” Crenshaw said.

Clothing sizes are: Crenshaw, 10 to 12 women’s pants, short or petite, and large shirt; Dillion, medium shirt, 34 waist/30 length pants; Alyssa, 3T shirt and 2T pants; and Alayna, 9 to 12 months.

The items can be taken to the home of Kimberly Rakowski at 343 Laurel Lane off New Franklin Road, or to the home of Crenshaw’s mother, Jessie Crenshaw, at 4 Eleanor St.