Jewelry. Old photographs. A landscape oil painting.
After an apartment complex was set on fire in Pembroke Pines Tuesday, these were among the priceless items of sentimental value that people were searching for in the rubble.
The fire destroyed six townhouses, displacing several families and one elderly man who lived there alone.
"After a couple of days it's starting to sink in, I'm getting nervous," said 84-year-old Dominick Tereta. "I'm not emotional, but I'm getting nervous."
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His apartment is completely lost: whatever didn't get burned got ruined by the water that was used to put it out. Tereta came back after the incident to salvage a few things.
"I lost my mom a few years ago, and this was her life, she was very proud of her home," said Laura Moore, Tereta's stepdaughter.
She shared photographs of her mother and stepfather with NBC 6. "I'm numb," she said. "It's a bad situation... You have the house one day, you're very used to it, the next day, gone."
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Neighbors have stepped up to help each other as some struggle with the loss.
Antray Jordan, a flight attendant who lives around the corner from Tereta, offered him help with laundry and other errands.
“You know, everything is gone, people need somebody to just say hey, I care, I don’t know you but let me help you with anything,” Jordan told NBC 6.
“Those little things, hey, you know, I could wash your clothes, I can run to the grocery store to get you some milk, I can do those things, because I think right now any small bit of help matters."
