BY MARCI LAEHR TENUTA
Journal Times | Posted: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE - Firefighters said Tuesday morning that a basement fire that displaced between 35 to 40 people late Monday night is the result of arson. No one has been arrested yet for the crime.
Fire Capt. Gary Green said the incendiary fire was started in a storage unit in the basement of the Douglas Terrace apartment building at 3634 Douglas Ave. The point of origin was an empty storage area, he said.
The fire spread to three adjacent units, but was contained to that immediate area. "The storage area is separated from the underground parking by a cement wall and a fire door," Green said. It essentially created a cement vault.
"The fire got so hot it melted the solder in the piping," Green said. When the pipes burst, the water helped put the fire out. He said it worked like a primitive sprinkler system.
"We are so fortunate," said the apartment complex manager Jo Harberts Tuesday morning. "Somebody over there lives right. The units are fine."
The 24-unit building houses approximately 35 to 40 people, according to Harberts. Most were able to go to the homes of family and friends Monday night. Just one family required assistance from the American Red Cross with temporary housing, she said.
Residents will probably not be displaced for long. Harberts said she had been on the phone since 6 a.m. Tuesday getting an electrician and plumbers out to the building to fix wiring and the pipes that were damaged in the fire. Once those things are restored, residents should be able to come home.
Resident Sarah King, who only moved into the building in November, said she was terrified Monday night when she realized there was a fire.
"I was in bed at 10," King said. "I heard banging on the pipes." She went to her door, opened it and found the hallway filled with smoke. "I was in panic mode," King said.
When she couldn't escape her ground-floor apartment through the hallway, King headed to the sliding glass patio doors. "The smoke really scared me," King said. "I was crying. I was panicking. Someone helped me get my cat."
Once her cat, ironically named Smoky for his gray coat, was safe, King called her mom to pick her up.
All of the residents of the building escaped without injury, Green said. But it wasn't without effort. When firefighters arrived, many of the residents were already outside, but firefighters had to go into the building to alert others who were sleeping and didn't hear the alarms.
"Fire crews had to go through and bang on doors," Green said. "In five cases they had to forcibly enter to make sure the people were out."
The fire was reported at approximately 10:55 p.m. when smoke was seen and alarms started sounding. Crews remained on scene until about 3:30 a.m.
"The fire department last night was fantastic," Harberts said. "I can't believe how quickly they responded. I can't say enough about them."
The Monday night fire is very similar to a fire that ignited in the neighboring Douglas Terrace building 14 years ago, with one glaring difference. In 1994, the 24-unit building at 3706 Douglas Ave. burned to the ground.
On Dec. 16, 1994 a fire was started in a storage bin in the basement of the building. Fire officials said it was the result of arson. The fire spread from the storage area to the parking garage and to the two stories of apartments.
The building was rebuilt in 1995 as a 34-unit building that now houses the leasing office.