Dorothy Gist was working an overnight shift last Sunday when she got a frantic call from her family that their apartment on City Terrace was on fire. 

Her 14-year-old twins were home with four other family members who live with them when the fire broke out around 2 a.m. 

Gist says 15 people in total lived in the two-family building and that everyone got out safe.  

MORE: GoFundMe for the family

She gave News12 video of the blaze, showing heavy smoke and flames coming from the structure.

“My apartment was water damaged. TV, furniture, clothing all gone. I only salvaged whatever I could," said Gist. 

Gist says it was an electrical fire involving an extension cord on the second floor. 

Her family is now staying in a hotel with the help of the Red Cross. 

“We lost everything," said Gist. "We have to start all over again, and we are already struggling as it is. The rent is high, so we are sitting here trying to find a place so we can get out of the hotel.”

A GoFundMe page has been started to help the Gist family pay for a new apartment. 

Two firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries trying to put the fire out. 

The fire itself has renewed tensions between the department, community and city after the city manager lowered the minimum number of firefighters on duty from 10 to seven per shift. 

A fire department source tells News 12 that the department's seven firefighters initially responded but that it took 30 firefighters to extinguish.

City officials say a fire hydrant at the scene was improperly used, resulting in a delay to get water on the building.