LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Smoke could be seen for miles on Tuesday evening after a vacant property in the heart of Portland neighborhood's historic center of town, next to one of Louisville's oldest family-owned businesses, Shaheen's.
Although a spokesperson for the business said it only sustained damage to a storage building behind the business, another neighbor said she lost everything.
Glass, shoes, and the lingering scent of burnt wood were all that remained outside Stacy Johnson's home.
Johnson said Louisville Fire had to spray so much water to dose the flames, it filled her basement and came up through the sidewalk, pushing dirt up and out into the roadway. It's a predicament she said she never thought she'd find herself in.
"I have absolutely nothing and nowhere to go," Johnson said.
To contribute to a GoFundMe for Stacy Johnson, click here.
On Wednesday morning, water was still falling from the ceiling. Johnson spent time cleaning and going through was used to be her home. The night before, she said she heard voices coming from the vacant property next door. After going out on her back deck to verify, she saw a wall of smoke. That's when she went downstairs to warn her friend.
"I ran down the stairs to the first floor to tell John to let him know there is smoke upstairs coming from the second story of the house next to us," she said.
She believes squatters lived in the vacant property next door, adding that she contacted the city multiple times and tried securing the property herself, but to no avail.
"There are squatters living in there and it looks like they have a little campfire going and I've contacted the owner, Portland initiatives numerous times over the past year to secure the property," Johnson added.
This all coming as the Portland neighborhood is trying to usher in a new era.
Katy Delahanty, executive director for the Portland Museum, said the neighborhood is no stranger to fires like this.
"We've been enduring fires to the point where I believe we lead all the neighborhoods with all the fires happening," she said.
She hopes the city will take action and find ways to help the Portland neighborhood prevent tragic events like this.
"People in Portland are resilient and I don't think that this fire is going to hold us back, we always rally around each other and uplift," Delahanty said.
As for Stacy, she's received some help the Red Cross as she begins to look ahead as to what's next.
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