After a devastating fire in Monterey, a death and displacement haunt former residents.

Every day since a fire tore through the Casanova Plaza apartment complex in Monterey on Monday, March 9, sending six residents to the hospital and leading to the death of a 95-year-old woman, resident Brooke Falk has returned to the area to search for her lost 10-year-old cat, Sassy, who reportedly leapt from a third-story balcony during the fire.

Falk recounts her experience from around 3:40am that morning, when she was awakened by the beeping of a smoke detector outside of her third-floor apartment and then a banging sound.

“At the same time, my cat, who was sleeping on the bed, sat up very fast and her ears went flat and then she immediately went underneath the bed,” says Falk, who then got up and walked to the hallway. “The second I opened the door, there was a voice that said, ‘Give me your hand, Brooke. Give me your hand. The building is on fire.’”

A billow of smoke rushed into her apartment and Falk was taken aback, but she held onto the hand of who she soon realized was her neighbor, Lino Chavez.

“He is my guardian angel,” Falk says. “He saved my life.”

In the hallway, as it filled with smoke, Falk remembered Sassy, hiding under the bed, and fled back to her room without Chavez.

“I got on my hands and knees because I knew she had gone under the bed, but I could not reach her,” Falk says.

Chavez pleaded with Falk to go. As smoke filled her apartment, Falk, barefoot and in her pajamas, realized she had to leave without Sassy. She found Chavez in the darkness and the two neighbors felt their way down the hallway, hand-in-hand, by staying close to the wall. They soon found the stairwell and escaped the burning building.

Falk and Chavez were transported to the hospital along with others and treated for smoke inhalation. She was later released and checked into the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel where Falk and the other displaced residents were temporarily given lodging and food. After she settled into her room, Falk went back to Casanova Plaza to search for Sassy and found that her apartment was destroyed, the roof burned away.

“I assumed Sassy was dead because she was trapped in there with no ventilation,” Falk says.

But a neighbor witnessed the cat leap from the balcony and told Falk that she landed on her feet, and then collapsed. After a moment, Sassy ran away.

The 84 surviving residents of Casanova Plaza are currently being housed in the Country Inn and Suites in Marina or staying with family, while the Housing Authority of Monterey County and the Monterey Fire Department continue to assess the building. (For the 74 in the hotel, HACM is covering the cost.) Monterey Fire Chief Patrick Moore says the cause of the fire is still unknown.

“The immediate focus is on resident safety and determining when units may be safely reoccupied,” says Zulieka Boykin, executive director of the Housing Authority. “We expect to have more information later this week regarding when residents can return to the building and what additional steps may be needed. Longer-term decisions will depend on the outcome of inspections and any necessary repairs.”