By Susan Gallagher, American Red Cross

It started out as a quiet, chilly March morning in Kimberling City, Missouri, until fire alarms shattered the calm at 5 a.m., waking 32 residents from their sleep to one of the most devastating days of their lives. Hannah Vollintine was at home, in bed, that Saturday morning in 2025. Her partner, Dylan Oltjenbrun, had already left for work that morning and was just beginning his shift.

“At first, I thought it was another false alarm,” Hannah recalled. “Kids in the apartment building were constantly pulling the fire alarm, but eventually, I smelled burning rubber and knew something was wrong.”

This time it was real, and the complex’s many elderly and handicapped tenants were struggling to get outside. Hannah grabbed her phone and left her third floor apartment when she saw the other half of the building engulfed in flames.

Fire departments from multiple nearby towns descended on Hannah’s complex that day to fight the blaze. 19 families became homeless. They were the victims of one tenant who deliberately started a fire in her own unit, endangering the life of her own child who lived there. The arsonist was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but Hannah and Dylan lost almost everything they owned.

A month after the March 2025 fire, Hannah and Dylan moved to a complex in Hollister, Missouri– about 45 minutes from Kimberling City.

“My car needed repairs I could not afford, so I was facing the prospect of starting over at another place of employment because my carpool friends who took me to work were too far away from my new apartment,” Hannah said.

While Dylan and Hannah’s generous families really helped the couple’s recovery, they tried to move on without other support.

“I did not know that the Red Cross would help fire victims. I just thought they were a place where you donated blood,” Hannah said. “When I finally met with a community representative, she told us about organizations that could help us and told me to call the Red Cross right away. I left all my identification documents in the apartment when I fled, but that did not matter to the Red Cross ambassador. She quickly sent me financial support. That money allowed me to fix my car and to have transportation to my job,” she said. “I am so grateful to the Red Cross.”

Recovery has not been easy. “It was traumatic enough to be driven out of my home by a fire, but then for 5 months, the building’s property manager refused to let us go back into our apartments,” Hannah said.  “During that time, the property manager did not lock our apartment and teens from a nearby residence came in and jumped on our television, stole dirty clothes from my hamper, and just took anything they wanted. I felt so violated by them going through what had been my home.”

 “My consolation has been the kindness shown to us by the community and family members who helped us,” Hannah said. “I am especially grateful for the assistance the Red Cross gave us—they provided funds to allow me to keep my job and move forward after all the pain and loss.”