Amy Willadsen was honored recently for saving a man from a car fire. On Saturday morning, she was the one who escaped a fire.
LISA MUNGER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Friday, July 11, 2008 7:00 pm
Amy Willadsen was honored recently for saving a man from a car fire. On Saturday morning, she was the one who escaped a fire.
Willadsen, a Lancaster County Sheriff's deputy, was among dozens of people who got out safely when their building at Thomasbrook Apartments burned.
"When I saw the flames I knew we had to get out right away," she said.
Willadsen and her fiance had renter's insurance, but the dress she had planned to wear at their Aug. 8 wedding was lost in the blaze.
Their apartment was on the first floor of the three-story, 24-unit building in the complex at 59th and Van Dorn streets that caught fire Saturday morning. All occupants were evacuated safely, and no injuries were reported.
By Saturday afternoon, investigators determined the fire started when a resident discarded a cigarette in a plastic coffee container on a third-floor balcony. A porch glider started to burn, and the fire traveled up the side of the balcony to the eaves of the building. From there, the blaze moved into the attic and quickly traveled through the open space to the roof, said Damon Robbins, a fire investigator with the city.
He said the building was a total loss and estimated damage at $1.25 million to $2 million, with an additional $500,000 for the building's contents.
A resident called 911 and activated a fire alarm at 6:17 a.m. after hearing a smoke detector.
"When we arrived, there were flames about 20 feet into the air," firefighter Adam Schrunk said.
Eleven Lincoln Fire & Rescue units, including engines, trucks, and aerial trucks, responded to the blaze. Chief Niles Ford said the fire was under control by 8:14 a.m.
"We plan to keep crews on-site until at least 7 tonight,” Robbins said Saturday afternoon. “There is a lot of debris, water on the floor, threat of ceiling collapse. It's dangerous right now. It's a hard-hat zone.”
Aerial ladder units continued to saturate the building into the afternoon to make sure all hot spots were extinguished.
"There can be hidden fires and hot spots anywhere," Ford said.
Robbins said residents won't be allowed back into their homes until engineers, usually hired by the landlord's insurance company, assess structural safety.
"This building has been red-tagged," Robbins said. "That means it’s untenable, really poor conditions.”
Thomasbrook, built in 1973, has 264 apartments on land just west of the Holmes Lake dam.
The fire burned through walls and attic space common to the entire building, Ford said. It had firewalls designed to contain fire long enough for people to get out, he said.
The complex does not have a sprinkler system, and, because of its age, isn’t required to. Beginning this year, Robbins said, all new apartment buildings in Lincoln must be equipped with sprinklers.
Each apartment at the complex has smoke detectors, as do the hallways, but one does not trigger the other, Robbins said.
Thomasbrook leasing agent Amber Lardy said complex employees check smoke detectors before people move in and require them to sign a waiver stating further maintenance is their responsibility.
"Smoke detectors and fire alarms, in common areas, were inspected in this building two months ago," she said.
Willadsen’s apartment was on the east side of the building, beneath the spot where the fire started.
Firefighters went back in after the main fire was out to retrieve her gun and ammunition. They also were able to find her fiance’s wedding ring.
“Some people didn’t have renter’s insurance,” said Willadsen, who in October 2007 helped to pull a semiconscious person from a burning vehicle. “They are really hurting. There are a lot of people who could really use help right now. The Red Cross is doing what they can to help them.”
The Red Cross was on the scene by 8:20 a.m. to talk with families, help people find housing and provide food, water and counseling for those who wanted it.
Bob Kelley, director of development and communications for the Cornhusker Regional Chapter, said firefighters worked hard to save what they could.
"The fire department has been wonderful," he said. "They put down over 100 tarps, covering furniture to preserve what they could from water damage."
Firefighters also retrieved pets, car keys, computers and medications for residents.
All but one of the one- and two-bedroom units in the building were occupied, Lardy said, but several residents were out of town at the time of the fire. She said she had rented open Thomasbrook apartments to about half the affected residents by Saturday afternoon.
Alicia Harms, who moved into her third-floor apartment about a month ago, stood outside Saturday morning and watched firefighters saturate the building with water.
"When I woke up, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face," she said, her eyes brimming with tears. "I started screaming for help, and then I heard firefighters banging at my door.
"I grabbed my laptop and my purse and ran. I lost everything. I didn't have the chance to get renter's insurance."
Kelley said some help for those without insurance is available through the Red Cross.
"People don't know how inexpensive renter's insurance is," he said. "We do have a brochure we give them with some financial possibilities."
Harms, 19, wasn't alone. Cody Smith said taking out insurance didn’t occur to him.
Like Harms, he woke to the sound of firefighters banging at the door. He and his roommate, Mark Howell, 25, ran out to the lawn and looked back to see firefighters hack their way through the roof with axes.
"We woke up, smelled the smoke and thought, ‘We'd better get the hell out of here,’" said Smith, 25. "I'm just glad they sent so many firetrucks."
Robbins said something can be learned from every fire. In this case, a cigarette tossed into a plastic container was the culprit. The fire that destroyed a three-story, 24-unit building at Lionsgate Apartments near 51st and Vine streets in August 2005 started after a cigarette was tossed into a plastic flower pot.
"People that smoke cigarettes should throw them away in a non-combustible container, like a metal can with a lid."
Reach Lisa Munger at 473-7107 or lmunger@journalstar.com.