Contributed by: CBrining
By EMILY PREVITI and ELAINE ROSE Staff Writers | Posted: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 | 1 comment
ATLANTIC CITY - A three-alarm fire left nearly 150 people temporarily homeless after it damaged the 14-story Inlet Tower apartment building Wednesday morning.
Investigators said they believe the fire was caused by an electrical problem that started inside the wall on the ninth floor of the building at 220 N. New Hampshire Ave. Some residents said they had previously complained to the building's management about several accidental fires in a ninth-floor unit....Continue Reading
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The first call reporting the fire came at 10:45 a.m., and firefighters had brought the blaze under control within 90 minutes. The blaze was contained to the unit where it started, according to Battalion Chief Michael Mooney.
Soot stains stretched four stories on the outside of the high-rise.
Residents were relocated to the adjacent high-rise Charles P. Jeffries Tower at 227 N. Vermont Ave. by the Atlantic City Housing Authority, which oversees both properties.
About 25 of Inlet's 145 elderly tenants cannot walk on their own and had to be carried out by firefighters, who donned 80 pounds of equipment and scaled as many as 14 stories of steps on each trip in and out of the building, Mooney said.
"There are so many variables in there that make it so much more difficult, but it was accomplished without error or any harm to the residents," he said later.
Residents of the building sat in a community room at Jeffries Tower Wednesday night, as emergency workers served them a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs along with green beans.
Sonia Davis, who lived on the ninth floor next door to the apartment where the fire started, said she was on her way to a dentist's appointment when she heard the alarms beep. She knocked on her neighbor's door to get him out.
"He cracked the door open and a gush of smoke came out," Davis said. She asked him what happened, he replied that his VCR was on fire, "and he closed the door in my face."
Davis said her unit has been declared uninhabitable.
"I believe I lost everything," she said. "I just spent $1,800 on my furniture, and I hope they're going to replace it."
Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention Jim Foley said Wednesday night that the cause of the fire is undetermined. He declined to comment on residents' concerns about previous fires in the unit.
Some residents waited outside their home Wednesday afternoon, while others sat in a common room on the second floor of Jeffries. Firefighters fetched medication for those who had not brought it along before evacuating earlier.
Two people were taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and paramedics treated another six or so at the scene, said Mooney and Emergency Management Chief Tom Foley.
As of 7 p.m., four units on the ninth floor had been declared uninhabitable, and the Atlantic City Housing Authority was inspecting the building for more damage, Foley said.
The elevators will be out for a couple of days, Foley said. Residents who can walk the stairs with assistance would be allowed back into their apartments later Wednesday night, and the others would be taken to temporary shelters.
Inlet Tower residents at Jeffries Towers Wednesday night contemplated what had happened and what would happen next.
Cecilia Bernheiser said she had gone shopping and was riding the bus home, when the driver told her about the fire.
"I did not believe him at first," Bernheiser said. "I thought he was joking with me."
But she soon found out it was no joke, and got very nervous because her clothes and medications were in the apartment, Bernheiser said.
"I finally got my medicines about 15 minutes ago. I was supposed to get them at 3 or 4 (p.m.), and her it is almost 7:30," Bernheiser said. "I just want to see what my place looks like and how it is. Then I'll decide whether to stay or not."
Leslie Borden said she was home on the 11th floor when she smelled smoke.
"I thought it was nothing at first," Borden said. "Then I just took my stuff and ran out of there. I rand down the steps. I was really scared."
Borden said she didn't mind sitting in Jeffries Tower socializing with her neighbors.
"I think we're just anxious to see what our apartments are like," she said.
But others weren't so happy.
"It's disturbing knowing we had to come out of our apartments and we can't go back in there," said Mary Ellen Straka, taking a cigarette break outside the building. "People lost everything they had in their apartments."
At about 8:30 p.m., two Fire Department engine companies would arrive to help some people walk back to their units, said Capt. Michael Ruley. Members of the Jitney Association would take those who could not manage the stairs to local hotels.
The Fire Department planned to remain on watch all night, to make sure returning residents were safe, Ruley said.
Fire and rescue agencies from Pleasantville, Brigantine, Longport, Margate, Ventnor, Absecon and Galloway Township also responded to the scene and to staging areas on Atlantic Avenue and the casino employee parking area on the Atlantic City Expressway. The American Red Cross responded to assist in finding temporary shelter for residents who couldn't return home.
The state Fire Marshal's office also sent investigators.
Contact Emily Previti:
609-272-7221
Contact Elaine Rose:
609-272-7215
Posted in Atlantic_city, Breaking on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 11:20 pm Updated: 12:08 am.
Elwood Fire Rescue
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