A LaFayette nonprofit that provides beds for children in need is working to recover after a storage unit fire destroyed thousands of dollars in materials earlier this week.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace lost nearly 100 beds worth of supplies Monday afternoon after a fire spread through multiple storage units in LaFayette.
The nonprofit builds and delivers beds to children who do not have a bed of their own. According to Maggie Lee with the LaFayette chapter, the organization had recently stored the materials after a large build event that helped provide beds for families during the Christmas season.
Lee said the loss included wooden bed frames, bedding, pillows, and other essential materials used in the construction process.
“With the smoke damage and all that into the wood, and now the rain that’s saturating them, it was just a total loss,” Lee said.
The damage is estimated between $6,500 and $7,000 and includes approximately 100 headboards, 100 footboards, slats, side rails, and safety rails.
Lee said the chapter learned about the fire after receiving a phone call Monday afternoon and quickly went to the storage facility, where smoke and fire had already spread through several units.
The LaFayette Fire Department is continuing to investigate the cause of the fire and plans to review surveillance footage. Witnesses and first responders reported seeing heavy black smoke coming from the storage units.
Despite the setback, the nonprofit says its mission will continue.
Lee said Lowe’s, a longtime supporter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, has stepped in to help replace the lost bed materials at no cost.
“Our mission continues, because we still have beds to deliver that are ready to go out,” Lee said. “We don’t have many, but we’re going to deliver them anyway.”