 Holiday spirit uplifts fire victims
12/26/2004 - By Mila
Koumpilova mkoumpilova@forumcomm.com
When Donald DeGroat headed home for the holidays on a two-week leave
from the Army Reserve, he had one simple wish -- he just wanted to sleep
in his own bed.
But when he and his wife showed up at their apartment building in south
Moorhead on Christmas Eve after spending a few days with relatives, he
found it would not be.
The entrance to the threestory Skaff Apartments 18-plex, 1114 27th Ave.
S., was locked, closed off with yellow police tape.
But even if the family had been able to access their garden-level
apartment, DeGroat would not have slept in his bed that night. Their
belongings were soaked, and their furniture was destroyed by water.
A Friday night call to Debbie Schons, an assistant to owner Sam Skaff
who recounted the incident on Saturday, brought the bewildered couple up
to speed: Shortly after 1 a.m. on Friday, a blaze spread from a
third-floor apartment and heavily damaged the building before two dozen
Moorhead and Fargo firefighters put it out more than four hours later.
Nobody was injured, but 30 people were displaced.
On hearing what happened, DeGroat exclaimed, “But this is my time to
be home,” Schons said. He could not be reached for comment Saturday.
The fire scorched holiday plans of residents: Christmas presents
burned, Christmas Eve dinner plans cancelled, worry undercut holiday
cheer. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day found them scrambling for a sense
of normality.
Traffic had slowed down at the Skaff Apartments office on Saturday
morning after along and hectic Christmas Eve.
The two teenage daughters of another resident came in to pick up the
two brand-new CD players somebody had dropped off for them.
Sam Skaff strode anxiously around the office, his tight grip on a cup
of coffee and his bloodshot eyes the telltale signs of his high-strung
Christmas Eve: six hours in 12-below-zero weather spent assisting the
dozen or so evacuated residents, two hours of sleep, then many hours in
his bustling office, where all of his family had flocked to help.
The residents of four apartment units lost everything they had.
The garden-level residents lost most of their furniture to water
damage. “They’ll all start from scratch,” Skaff said Saturday.
It all started when two college students wrapped up cleaning their
third-floor apartment and set off to spend the holidays with families
around 3:30 on Thursday afternoon. They forgot to blow out an oversized
wax candle that sat directly on a plastic end table in their living room.
“Ten hours later, we had a fire,” said Moorhead Fire Marshal Rich
Duysen.
“People kind of pooh-pooh the fact that candles are dangerous,”
Duysen said. “But they really are, and people die over that. “
Candles and other holiday decorations are just one reason why
firefighters nationwide deem the days between Christmas Eve and New
Year’s Eve the deadliest week of the year.
According to the Minnesota Fire Marshall Web site, that week in 2003
witnessed 170 structural fires, $3 million in property damage and three
fatalities -- four times the average numbers.
The reason for the spike in fires, says Duysen, is a collection of
combustible ingredients: more time spent indoors, lots of cooking, added
fire hazards like dry Christmas trees and alcohol.
The blaze in the Moorhead apartment building cut
Christmas celebrations short for some residents. The Skaff team said
several families had rushed back on Friday and Saturday morning from out-oftown
get-togethers after learning about the fire from the media or the staff.
But even for those who had gone through the nerve-racking midnight
evacuation on Friday, the gravity of the situation was hitting home in
those holiday hours.
“I think everybody thought they’d be able to go back in the next
morning,” said Courtney Gaa, who had welcomed seven families at the
Marriott Friday morning.
Shukri Dini, a refugee from Somalia who lived in the building and works
at the Marriott, was scheduled to work on Christmas Eve. Her supervisor
insisted she took a day off.
But, Gaa said she insisted: “I want to work. I want to keep busy.”
So she swung by the apartment building to pick up her uniform, only to
discover that the uniform and most of her other belongings were in pitiful
shape from water damage. In a heartening twist, though, the young woman
discovered her immigration papers and treasured snapshots from Somalia --
soaked but intact -- in a cosmetic suitcase with a frozen lock. Laneil
Skaff, Sam’s wife, helped her lay the papers out to dry in the Skaff
office that morning.
Schons, Skaff ’s assistant, says the mood among the fire victims has
been surprisingly upbeat. “Everyone’s been very level-headed,
considering what happened,” she says.
All the families now have new apartments in other Skaff buildings, but
not a lot of belongings. Most of them didn’t have renters insurance,
according to Skaff.
Many are eager to move back into their old homes, but the building will
likely not be ready for them any time soon. The owner estimates hundreds
of thousands dollars of damage was done.
Throughout the day Friday, area residents trickled into the Skaff
office and dropped off clothes, toys, toothbrushes, money and other items
for the survivors. But more donations of bedding, household appliances,
cutlery, bathroom essentials and more are needed.
For many involved, the outpouring of help and solidarity salvaged the
spirit of the holidays.
Says the Marriott’s Gaa, “I hated that something like that
happened, but I was incredibly happy I could help.”
Forum readers can reach reporter Mila
Koumpilova at (701) 241-5529.
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