A night-shift worker was asleep in his Greenwood apartment when he woke up to the sound of yelling outside and someone pounding on his door.
Thaddeus Porter didn’t see anyone when he opened the door, but did notice the unmistakable smell of smoke. Porter raced to wake up his roommate and grab his dog, Princess, but didn’t have time to get his cat before rushing outside.
A Wednesday afternoon fire at Meridian Oaks Apartments will displace about 55 people. No one was injured, but three firefighters were treated at the scene for dehydration, White River Fire Chief Jeremy Pell said.
The quick response from bystanders who went door to door to alert their neighbors to the fire helped ensure that no one was hurt, he said.
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A three-story, 24-unit building at the apartment complex, which is east of State Road 135 and north of Main Street, is likely to be a total loss, Pell said.
Ricky Stapp was returning to his apartment around 2 p.m. when he saw small flames beginning to race up the side of the building north of his. He ran over to get a better look and called 911. He and other residents began yelling at open windows and knocking on doors with other residents to make sure everyone was able to get out.
Within minutes, the flames had reached the roof as firefighters began to arrive, Stapp said.
One major challenge firefighters faced was that it was a windy day, meaning the fire spread quickly through the roof of the apartment building. They were concerned about the blaze spreading to another building, Pell said.
Six fire departments, nearly two dozen vehicles and 75 firefighters responded to the fire. They spent about an hour getting the flames extinguished, but continued to spray water on the building to deal with lingering hot spots for several hours after, he said.
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined. Investigators hadn’t been able to begin searching the building as of Wednesday evening, Pell said.
Brian Ashton, who was home at the time with his dog, Lucky, noticed commotion from his second-floor apartment and was able to get outside safely with his dog. He and his wife, Lindsay, had moved to the apartment about a year ago, but didn’t have renters insurance, he said.
They said they are grateful to be safe, but also anxious to see if any of their possessions are salvageable. They’d received an offer of assistance from a local church and also have friends nearby that they might be able to stay with in the short term.
The American Red Cross and the Community Church of Greenwood, which runs the Gathering Place, a community center near the apartment complex, are offering assistance to displaced residents, Pastor Jason Gallman said.
The Red Cross set up at the community center to begin working with displaced residents, and the church opened the center as a place for people and their pets to spend the night, Gallman said.
One resident of the apartment complex, Leslie Kent, said her biggest concern is figuring out how to get new clothing for her 6-year-old and 2-year-old sons.
For many of the residents who had either gotten out safely or were racing home from work, one of their main worries was whether their pets were OK.
When Porter had to leave his apartment without his cat, he said he feared for the worst, but a firefighter who entered the building was able to rescue the aptly named pet, Lucky.
One resident, who was at work in Columbus at the time of the fire, wasn’t able to come back to his apartment immediately to check on his three dogs. Two of his friends who live in Greenwood, Brandon Lews and Jacob Chastain, worked to find the dogs, taking pictures of ones that firefighters had rescued and sending them to their friend for confirmation, eventually finding all three.
For one couple that has lived at Meridian Oaks Apartments for 15 years, Mark and Paula Tanier, their concern is whether they’ll be able to salvage anything from their first-floor apartment, which was underneath where the fire was thickest.
They had antiques handed down from parents as well as an extensive collection of comic books.
Paula Tanier spent much of her first few minutes back at the apartment complex tracking down animal control workers trying to see if anyone had seen her cat, Tammie, but wasn’t able to find anyone who had seen her.
The moment was hard to process immediately, Mark Tanier said.
“It hasn’t hit me yet,” he said.
