Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 8, 1994 TAG: 9404080174
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
With a little grease and a little flour is how she likes to cook it. When the resident of Melrose Towers started to fry the delicacy, her stove burst into flames.
"The only thing I could think of doing was to get out of there," said Beamer, 74. "It'll be a long time before I do that again."
Around 3:15 Thursday afternoon, Roanoke fire investigators say, a faulty electrical outlet behind Beamer's gas stove sparked a fire in her third-floor apartment, destroying her residence and sending smoke into surrounding apartments in the nine-story building.
Four residents of the structure at 3038 Melrose Ave. N.W. were treated for smoke inhalation, according to Fire Chief Garry Basham. But there were no serious injuries at the building operated by the city housing authority, where more than 190 low-income elderly and disabled people reside.
Basham said the fire was extinguished within 10 minutes. The philosophy in fighting fires that are isolated like this one, and in a residence with many elderly and disabled people, is not to lose time by staging a mass evacuation.
"You try to knock down the fire quickly and get the smoke out of the building," he said.
In this case, he said, "It worked. It worked good."
Some residents decided to leave the building anyway. They waited outside, huddling in small groups. Fire investigators and rescue workers helped them through the lobby, reassuring them that the fire was not serious.
This was Mildred Kelly's first experience with fire. And at 85, she hoped it was her last. An asthma sufferer, Kelly said she inhaled smoke and started coughing while she was in her ninth-floor apartment.
"I just got my keys and left," she said, clutching a tissue, a blue sweater draped over her shoulders.
A firefighter helped her down the flights of stairs to the lobby. There, rescue officials treated her in their makeshift center, set up in the middle of a rummage sale.
The rummage sale, sponsored by the residents' civic group, is expected to start today nonetheless. It was fitting, said some workers, particularly because the group donates money to the rescue companies.
About an hour after she was burned out of her apartment, Beamer sat in the television room, surrounded by friends. Officials from Melrose Towers had just told her they would relocate her into another apartment.
But Beamer was more concerned that her cooking had started the fire and caused all of the commotion. Discovering that the electrical malfunction was to blame, she edged forward in her chair to say, "Well, I'm real glad to hear that."
by CNB