Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 13, 1993 TAG: 9305130244
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER and CHUCK MILTEER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke County Deputy Fire Chief Larry Logan said the fire consumed two top-floor apartments in the three-story building at the Windy Hill Key Apartments near Tanglewood Mall. Smoke and water damaged other apartments below, but firefighters were able to keep the blaze from spreading throughout the building.
Apartment complex manager Maxine Alls said a fire marshal told her that he could "pretty well say it was lightning" that caused the blaze, which erupted during a fierce thunderstorm about 7 p.m.
Logan said all the residents had been evacuated by the time firefighters arrived.
Several witnesses reported hearing an unusually loud clap of thunder a few minutes before noticing smoke billowing from the top of the building. Within minutes flames were leaping 30 to 40 feet into the air, residents said.
Resident Lynne Brizzolara said she heard a crash of thunder, but went back to reading a book. About 10 minutes later, she heard what sounded like glass breaking and opened her door to find the hallway filled with smoke.
She yelled "Fire!" and got her two cats out. She and her husband, Ed, said they lost everything in the blaze. They were staying with his daughter Wednesday night, he said.
Mansinhro Gakwahr, 88, said he was reading a biography of Hindu philosopher Ramakrishna in his apartment when he heard "a most tremendous crash" two floors above him.
Gakwahr - a native of India who moved here to be near his daughter - went back to his book after hearing the thunder, unaware a fire had started. "I was praying."
A resident of a nearby building, Bernard Morgenstern, knew Gakwahr was in the ground-floor apartment and went to make sure he got out.
"I knew he was in there and that he wouldn't come to the door unless he knew who it was," Morgenstern said. Even when told of the fire, Gakwahr didn't want to leave his home, Morgenstern said.
"He's mad at me because I carried him out," Morgenstern said, half jokingly. "Me and one of the paramedics."
Shirley Roulston, a resident of the Cayman Islands, arrived in Roanoke on Tuesday to visit some friends. She was in the living room of a third-floor apartment on the same side of the building as the unit where the fire started. "We were sure it had hit the porch," she said. "A few minutes later, we smelled smoke."
Morgenstern said the fire spread very quickly. "It went up so fast, it was unbelievable," Morgenstern said.
Residents of the complex helped others evacuate their apartments. "The neighbors really pulled together quickly," he said. "People look out for each other."
Steven T. Smith, director of community services with the American Red Cross, said he thought displaced residents would be able to find temporary housing for the night. He said he would begin working this morning with any that may need help.
Logan said half the building's residents would be allowed back into their apartments Wednesday night.
Alls, the manager, said seven families were displaced from the 20-unit building. Three units were vacant, including one that was to have had new tenants today.
"We're looking better than we thought we were," Alls said. "We'll wait until the morning to see what we've got and then go from there."
About an hour after the fire started, Gakwahr was standing outside in the parking lot in a stocking cap, leaning against his walker. As he watched firefighters extinguish the last of the blaze, he was still clutching his book.
His daughter, a doctor at the VA Medical Center in Salem, arrived and led him to her car to get him out of the rain. Another thunderstorm was rolling through.
by CNB