‘Starting over’: Holyoke mother and kids among 70 facing holidays homeless after two blazes

HOLYOKE ― The fire alarm blared for three minutes before Theresa Gilliam realized something was wrong.

By nightfall, her apartment was waterlogged, her belongings ruined, and her family homeless.

Gilliam said she is grateful that she and her kids escaped unharmed, but the blaze that tore through their building Monday left them with nothing — no clothes, no documents, no keepsakes.

They are among more than 70 families now scrambling to rebuild after the two fires displaced them and drew a massive emergency response.

The night of the blaze

Gilliam, who works overnight as a certified nurse’s assistant, had just woken up in her second-floor apartment at 127 Clemente St. when the fire alarm went off around 3:27 p.m.

“After three minutes I got up, wondering what was going on,” Gillia