Wednesday, January 12, 2000
Blaze routs 10 families
Fire started in apartment bedroom
BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLERAIN TWP. — A four-alarm fire at an apartment complex displaced 10 families Tuesday.
Firefighters were called to the Woodmere Apartments on Roundtop Road about 4:10 a.m.
They found a heavy blaze shooting through the roof and rear walls of the brick building.
Residents made it out of the building safely. The American Red Cross is providing all of them with temporary housing.
The fire, which started in a bedroom of a second-floor rear apartment, caused an estimated $250,000 in damage, said Capt. Frank Cook of the Colerain Township Fire Department.
It took firefighters until 5:45 a.m. to bring it under control. A cause has not been determined.
Paul Barger, 18, suffered minor burns on his foot, but declined treatment.
The fire started in Mr. Barger's bedroom sometime before 4 a.m. He was awakened by fire on his foot and a smoke-filled room.
He roused his parents, Tom and Charlotte, and his 15-year-old brother, Timmy.
Then the family began knocking on neighbors' doors.
“If (Paul) didn't have an angel on his shoulder, he would have been dead. I know that God was taking care of us,” Mrs. Barger said Tuesday morning as she stood outside her charred apartment in the cold, wearing borrowed clothes from a neighbor.
Furniture and clothes can all be replaced, she said. “But my God, we're all alive. My insurance company is not going to buy me another son,” Mrs. Barger said.
Furball, one of the family cats, made it out of the fire. But another, Stimpy, died in the blaze.
The Bargers, who have lived on Roundtop Road for more than two years, said they'll stay in a hotel for a few days, then with relatives.
Tuesday morning, neighbors offered the victims warm drinks, clothing and a place to sleep. The staff at the Woodmere Apartments provided coffee, juice and cereal. .
Fire inspector Lt. Mark Walsh said all of the units likely had smoke detectors, but he couldn't say if they were working.
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