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In Richland County, families and fire officials are picking up the pieces after a massive apartment fire.

It started just before noon Sunday at the Briargate apartments in the St. Andrews area.

Half of the units in one building are gone and several people are homeless as a result.   

In just a matter of minutes, flames ripped through Patrice Holmes’ Briargate apartment. The Columbia woman could only watch everything she had go up in flames.

"My baby's stuff, all their stuff is gone. I panicked. I just grabbed what I could and left," says Homes.

The fast-moving fire also completely destroyed M.J. Brittingham's home.

Despite the unknown, M.J. went back into the burning complex to help a neighbor in trouble.

"The smoke was thick, all the way to the floor when I came back. I was chocking. But, I did help my neighbor get out because she couldn't see where she was going," says Brittingham.

Columbia Deputy Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins says almost 40 firefighters from Irmo and Columbia worked to put down the blaze.

"Well basically, they couldn't get in on the inside. So, they were just trying to put it out from the outside until they could get on the inside to finish extinguishing it," Jenkins said.

Chief Jenkins also adds that due to a fire wall the blaze was stopped before it could spread to the second half of the complex.

Damages are estimated at $500,000, but the people who live here say you can't put a price tag on their prized possessions.

Fire officials are still trying to determine what caused that fire.

Meanwhile, the American Red Cross in Columbia is stepping in to help those folks who lost their homes in the blaze.