A Bridgeport family displaced after a house fire destroyed their home is asking the public for help.

The fire broke out inside a multi-family home on Maplewood Avenue Monday night.

Joe Grits and his family are among the 17 people who were displaced by the fire, which destroyed much of the house.

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Grits says the American Red Cross put his family up in a hotel, but that's only a short-term solution.

He says he will be staying with family members, but needs permanent housing.

Grits says the building was sold just before the fire, and he's been unable to reach the new landlord about getting his security deposit back to help his family relocate after losing much of their belongings.

"I'm a person that's well recognized in the community, so a lot of people reached out with as far as clothes — because there is a lot of water damage so we lost a lot of property. But those types of things, materialistic things, are not what we're really looking for. If they could get me into new housing, I will work and continue to pay the rent, just like I have been doing at this residence."

The cause of the fire is under investigation.