FORT WORTH, Texas – With 800 people still displaced after an electrical fire at the Cooper Apartments in Fort Worth, residents are demanding answers from the management company.
Fort Worth Cooper Apartment fire
Fort Worth apartment residents at a loss 
Fort Worth Cooper Apartment fire
The latest:
While escaping the flames was difficult enough for residents of the Cooper Apartments, they say what has been even more frustrating is getting through the brick wall between them and the apartment management.
Wednesday marks the 23rd day since the fire, and residents say they’ve still heard nothing. They have no access to their belongings nearly a month after they had to evacuate the 6-alarm fire.
Some residents have said they have furniture they bought just before the fire, which they still owe money on, being held inside the building. Some spend their time waiting outside their buildings, hoping to be let in to gather their belongings.
One resident told FOX 4 about the 20 years’ worth of sentimental items they’ve collected with their spouse, all of which are stuck in their building. Another says they recently got married, and all of their wedding gifts are locked inside.
Residents speak out after apartment fire 
Fort Worth Cooper Apartment fire
What they’re saying:
“All we want is a plan or timeline for when we can be reunited with our belongings. We’ve already lost our homes, now we have to beg for answers or beg for our stuff back? It’s just cruel,” said Amy Ngo, a Cooper Apartments resident.
Parker Spradley, a medical student, spoke to FOX 4 from her parents’ home in Colorado. She was taking a test online at the time of the fire.
“Fireman knocked on my door and said, ‘oh, you need to get out,’ and I was gonna take my laptop. And then he was like, ‘no, you need to get out.’”
Many residents say their apartments were not near the ones damaged, so they don’t understand why there is no timeline to be allowed to retrieve their things.
Those with renters’ insurance say they can’t move forward with claims until the Cooper Apartments provide a formal notice that items are not retrievable or are a total loss. Those who paid for insurance through the property management group say they’ve run into other issues.
“I am a newer resident. They offered risk-mitigation insurance that only covered their property. Anything damaged, I will have to come out of pocket for. The coverage we thought we have, we don’t,” one resident said.
Many residents say their calls and messages have either not gone through or have been ignored.
Hundreds of Fort Worth residents are united by the unfortunate circumstance of having to wait patiently for answers about their future.
The other side:
FOX 4 reached out to the Cooper Apartments on Wednesday for a statement. Their response reads in full:
“Unfortunately, this devastating fire has rendered The Cooper inaccessible and unsafe, both structurally and from an environmental health and safety standpoint. A number of highly complex and exhaustive investigative, inspection and remediation efforts have been underway since the moment the fire was extinguished. While we continue to do everything within our control to expedite the process, for a property of our size, this type of work takes considerable time, even under the best circumstances. While we acknowledge that the inability to access homes is very frustrating and poses a major inconvenience, we must wait until the engineers and health safety experts deem the units safe. We hope to have more substantive information to share as soon as it’s readily available.”
Gov. Abbott requests SBA assistance
Dig deeper:
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday requested a disaster declaration from the U.S. Small Business Association for Texans impacted by the fire.
If approved, the declaration would make federal assistance available through disaster loans.
“The devastation caused by the Fort Worth apartment fire has left many Texans facing significant loss and hardship,” said Abbott. “This disaster declaration from the SBA will help ensure those affected have access to the critical resources they need to recover and rebuild. I thank the brave firefighters and first responders whose swift action helped protect lives and contain the damage. Texas stands ready to support these residents every step of the way.”
Abbott’s request follows an analysis of the damage sustained in impacted communities conducted by local, state, and federal officials. The analysis verifies that damage caused by the fire meets the federally required thresholds for SBA assistance.
Cooper Apartments 6-alarm fire
The backstory:
During the fire at the Cooper Apartment building on West Rosedale in Fort Worth, more than 150 firefighters were sent to the scene to battle the blaze.
Due to the construction of the building, it was more difficult than normal to extinguish the fire. Authorities tell us the roof materials, intended to keep water out of the building, did their job so well that it took hours to fully put out the flames.
A total of 834 residents have been displaced following the devastating fire. It’s still unknown how many units were damaged, and the residents are still waiting to find out when they’ll be allowed back into their homes.
The official cause of the fire remains unknown.
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 4 interviews with Cooper Apartments residents.