What’s next for neighbors in the Emerald Pointe community after fire

Families are having to pick up the pieces after a horrific fire destroyed seven homes and a boat at Emerald Pointe in Punta Gorda. They say they’re getting through it by helping each other. One woman took fire victims to breakfast. Another person helped call their family members.

They’re all determined to help each other get through this.

What’s left of the walls that seven families once called home are now just ash and dust.

Agnes West lives on the south side of Emerald Pointe. “Seeing those flames was really very oh, nerve-racking,” said West.

Her home is still standing, but she feels for her once neighbors who are now homeless. “It’s an experience nobody wants to go through, not even from my distance. It was very upsetting,” West said.

For West, the flames she saw are impossible to forget, and so are the winds that fueled them. “I see it on TV all the time, and you know it affects other people, but when it hits home, it hurts a lot,” said West.

Betsy Kipper feels the pain too. She saw the fire change her neighbors’ lives forever. “All of the sudden you hear pop pop pop and flames were going, you knew. By the time the second unit started on fire, you knew it was gonna go all the way down,” said Kipper.

Pamela Schaub lives across the canal. She, like everyone else, watched helplessly as those homes burned. “The flames were pretty high, the smoke was black, and you know you always think of the people and if there’s any pets too,” Schaub said.

The only good news that people are holding onto is that no one was hurt. “We’re helping them with what they’re going to do long-term, and we’re going to be able to get together and keep our community strong,” Kipper said.

In the long term, it is essential that these victims work with the right people. Some neighbors told me that businesses are already trying to prey on victims here.

Among the devastation, charred homes are the potential for even more loss. Betsy Kipper lives in Emerald Pointe, and while her home wasn’t damaged, she wants to protect those whose were. “Let them go through the pieces that they need to go through with their insurance company,” said Kipper.

Kipper says he’s already seen people try to take advantage of her neighbors. “We don’t want them being contacted by all of these people who say oh, we can help you with this and that,” Kipper said.