Article published March 10, 2006
West Toledo fire guts 2 apartment buildings
Blaze leaves at least 10 people homeless
Flames illuminate the scene of the blaze at the Miracle Manor apartment complex.
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THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH
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By MEGHAN GILBERT
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Fire last night destroyed two buildings at the Miracle Manor apartment complex - one occupied and the other under construction from a previous fire - displacing at least 10 people who lived in the 12-unit building near Laskey and Jackman roads, authorities said.
"I lost everything," said John Watkins, 43, who for three years lived on the top floor of the destroyed building. "It's all over."
He was eating dinner when a neighbor knocked on his door. He smelled smoke as soon as he entered the hallway.
"This is unbelievable," he said, pointing to flames shooting through the roof of his apartment.
At least two firefighters were hurt. One was taken to Toledo Hospital with undisclosed injuries, and the other suffered minor burns and was treated at the scene.
The fire was reported at 6:35 p.m. but grew to a two-alarm fire seven minutes later and a three-alarm fire by 6:55 p.m.About 60 firefighters were on the scene.
The department sent 10 pumpers, three ladder trucks, two life squads, and a heavy squad to the complex.
Under a mutual aid agreement, the Sylvania, Rossford, and Oregon fire departments were asked to cover Toledo fire stations and assist on calls throughout the city. In addition, eight off-duty Toledo firefighters were recalled to work to operate two pumpers.
The blaze started in a building on the southwest corner of 18-building complex at 5066 Jamieson Drive. It was being rebuilt after a fire in September, 2004.
Residents said the roof was finished in the last few days, but all that remained of the structure last night was half a brick wall, a piece of the southwest corner, and scaffolding.
Firefighters encountered a number of problems.
High winds, with gusts up to 25 mph, initially pushed the fire faster than firefighters could get water onto the flames. They had too many trucks using the closest hydrants so there wasn't enough water pressure, Fire Chief Mike Bell said.
Firefighters had to regroup, close Laskey to traffic, and stretch hoses across the normally busy thoroughfare that borders the Miracle Mile Shopping Center, the chief said.
Laskey was closed from Jackman Road to Mellwood Avenue.
Another problem firefighters initially had was getting close to the building where the fire began because its was surrounded by a metal fence that firefighters had to breach to attack the flames.
They also had to maneuver around vehicles parked in the complex's narrow parking areas.
In the cold rain, residents from the occupied building watched as their apartments went up in flames.
Those who live in a neighboring structure held their breath, hoping the flames would not reach their residences.
At the height of the fire, about 50 to 60 people were evacuated from buildings in the complex, Chief Bell said.
Mr. Watkins said he almost moved after the previous fire, which barely missed his home, but decided to stay - a decision he said he now regrets.
In September, 2004, a two-alarm fire at the complex left about 45 people homeless.
That fire, which took 100 firefighters more than two hours to douse, started in a laundry room and spread to two adjoining structures.
Ryan Gary, 15, who has been staying with friends in a basement apartment in a building near the fire structures, grabbed as much as he could carry before getting out.
He dragged a laundry basket filled with clothes, some movies, a small ironing board, and a couple jars filled with change to a car parked nearby.
"Whatever I could grab," he said staring at what he feared might be all he would have left. "What am I going to do?"
A fire wall between one of the destroyed buildings and the one where the Gary youth was staying helped stop the fire from spreading, authorities said.
The cause of the fire and a damage estimate were not available last night. Two fire investigators were at the scene.
Some residents were angry that smoke detectors did not go off and that a security employee who had been stationed near the building under construction hadn't been on duty the last few days.
"We had no clue," Jamie Papke, 27, said, about the neighboring building being on fire. She and her daughter were lying in their rooms when neighbors banged on her door. "I grabbed my purse and that was it. I just wanted to get out."
She was in such a hurry she only got one shoe on her 5-year-old daughter, Kyleigh Conner, before they ran through the smoky building and into the parking lot.
"I just don't understand why it got so far," she said.
Two TARTA buses were stationed on Laskey to provide those evacuated refuge from the rain.
The Greater Toledo Area Chapter of the American Red Cross set up a canteen at the apartment complex about 7:30 p.m. and offered refreshments to firefighters and those left homeless.
By 10 last night, the Red Cross opened a shelter in the West Toledo YMCA for those displaced by the fire.
"We want to give them a safe place for the night," said Kristen Cajka, a chapter spokesman.
She said the Red Cross anticipated that about 80 people would need shelter, although no one had arrived at the YMCA by 10:30 last night.
The Miracle Manor apartment complex was built in 1966 with 99 one and two-bedroom units but later expanded to 219 units. The buildings have a listed value of about $5.175 million, according to Lucas County Auditor's Office data.
The complex was sold in July as part of a $13 million package that included three other Toledo apartment complexes to Property Asset Management Inc., or PAMI, of New York City. PAMI is a unit of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., a New York investment bank.
Managers of the complex could not be reached for comment.
Blade staff writers Tad Vezner and Mark Zaborney contributed to this report.
Contact Meghan Gilbert at:
mgilbert@theblade.com
or 419-724-6050.
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