A family of six lost nearly all their belongings and were forced out of their home after fire ripped through their Hermitage apartment complex.
The fire broke out Wednesday around 7:30 p.m. at 1018 Hickory Hill Lane. A tenant at the four-unit building said he fell asleep while cooking when the fire started in his kitchen.
At least seven people were displaced by the fire, including a couple and a family of five.
The family consisted of a woman and her four children, including a 10-year-old, 7-year-old, 10-month-old and a baby that was just born premature by emergency c-section just the day before.
The family was staying temporarily in a motel provided by the American Red Cross.
Tinea Beaugard, the children's grandmother, was with the children when she spoke to NewsChannel 5.
"To see that everything that we owned was completely destroyed, that's a feeling that I never want to feel again," Beaugard said.
She and the older three grandchildren were at the hospital Wednesday to see her daughter after she gave to birth to a son. The 27-year-old mother's placenta ruptured the day before.
The baby was 2 1/2 months premature and weighed a little over three pounds.
"He's healthy and he's strong, she's doing better and she's doing well," said Beaugard.
During their hospital visit, Beaugard's fiancé went home to cook and fell asleep. Officials with the Nashville Fire Department said the fire was caused by unattended grease on the stove.
"When I got out of the car and approached the house and saw that it was my apartment and that it was gone, my world just dropped," she recalled.
Her daughter had been collecting items to support the baby over the past few months, including clothes and toys. All of those items were destroyed in the blaze.
After a difficult day in the hospital, it was not news that was easy for Beaugard to deliver.
"I went ahead and let her know... and she broke down. She broke down and cried," she said.
Despite what happened and the uncertainty of the future, Beaugard said she was thankful no one was hurt.
