Renters Left Homeless After Gaithersburg House Fire

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WUSA) -- After losing his passport, documents, school books, cell phone and clothing to a fire, Kouami Messeko now worries about where he will be sleeping for the rest of the week.

The engineering major at Montgomery College has no family in the United States and is spending his last few nights at a hotel paid for by Red Cross. Still, the Togo native is grateful just to breathe.

"If I had been in that house another five minutes, I would not be alive today," he said.

Messeko is one among five people who rented rooms in a house that burned down around 2 a.m. Saturday. The blaze that began on the 1900 block of Chesley Knoll Drive first awoke Cameroon native Romeo Biloo, an accounting major at University of Phoenix.

"Something inside me just told me to open my eyes. When I did, I saw a big light coming from the window. Then when I looked down I heard a loud 'Boom!'" he said.

Biloo screamed to his roommates to wake up and everyone eventually escaped without injury, but not after a very close call. Knox Masiyakuriona manages the property for his brother in Atlanta.

"After we tried to account for everybody after the fire we found that one of the guys was not there," he said. "My heart sank because I'm seeing the flames and i think somebody is burning. I'm still recovering from that impact."

While Biloo was able to salvage his Visa, Masiyakuriona, a Zimbabwe native, and Messeko face a complicated process to recover their immigration documents. In the meantime, both of the students are applying for a temporary Red Cross extension.

"I'm really lost but trying to keep that hope," said Biloo.

"I can't really describe how I'm feeling," said Messeke. "Its very awful. If you don't have help from somebody, you can't sustain. I'm afraid but I'm also hopeful."