Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 21, 1993 TAG: 9305210058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It took Michael Brown only a few seconds to realize what he should do when he saw smoke pouring from a building in Northwest Roanoke's Caru Apartments complex:
Start banging on doors.
"I was asleep," said a young woman who lived in apartment No. 12 at 3545 Dona Drive, site of a Thursday afternoon fire. Her mother was going to the mailbox "when the manager came to the door and told us to get out. He said we were the only ones he could see. He was knocking on everybody's door."
Brown, an assistant manager of the complex, said he had been showing an apartment to a prospective tenant when he spied smoke coming from another building. Starting with the first floor, he pounded on each door of the 12-unit building, apparently rousing the tenants inside.
"We believe everybody got out pretty quick," said Tom Jakab, the general manager. "Fortunately the people saw the smoke, so there was a quick response."
The tenant who lived in the second-floor unit where the fire is believed to have started told the managers she was in her living room when she heard the smoke alarm, Brown said. Frantic, she ran to the middle bedroom, saw flames near her young son, grabbed him and ran to safety.
"A couple of my friends - they're on the Fire Department - said [the fire] got trapped under the roof and just spread," Brown said. "Once it got up in the attic, it was a ball of flames."
District Fire Chief Garry Basham called it "a good probability" that the two-alarm fire was started by children playing with matches. "We're 99 percent sure it's going to be [ruled] an accidental fire."
The fire, estimated to have done $100,000 in damage, destroyed two units; another four were damaged by smoke and water. Other residents of the building were allowed to return to their apartments after a thorough check by fire officials.
As firefighters tore away charred debris, dousing stubborn flames, the managers huddled and checked lists with the intention of finding temporary housing for displaced families.
"We're going to accommodate everyone," Brown said.
by CNB