JONESVILLE, Vt. --
Richmond firefighters were back on the scene 12 hours after a fire forced six Jonesville families from their homes Sunday night.
"Pretty much the entire roof is completely gone," said tenant Adam Cross.
Adam Cross returned from an evening out with friends to find his home in flames.
"We got here around midnight and the roof was on fire pretty much," Cross said. "We noticed a lot of people screaming. We ran inside to get the animals."
While Cross rescued his dog and two cats, six other families were scrambling to get out.
"Flames 50 feet in the air," said neighbor Michael McHugh. "It blew out from the eaves of the opposite side."
That brought the Richmond Fire Department and two neighboring departments to the apartment complex on East Main Street. Firefighters said two apartments were completely destroyed and four others were damaged.
"We haven't had a structure fire for little over a year now," said Assistant Chief Dennis Gile. "Anything this big."
As big as the fire was, neighbors like Michael McHugh were glad no one was hurt, but the pain is still hard to bear.
"You always feel bad when it happens to other people," McHugh said. "And now you've got the real gut check when it happens to you and you're displaced."
The landlord of the complex, Joe Handy, said it could be awhile before anyone can move back in.
"It's probably going to be six months," Handy said. "It's a lot of extensive damage, as you can see the whole roof is gone."
The Red Cross is temporarily providing shelter for the families, and Handy expects to relocate everyone to other apartments he owns.
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