MOUNT VERNON – Quentin Boyd walked through downtown Mount Vernon awaiting his Little Caesar pizza. It was a Saturday afternoon and Boyd was hungry.
He heard fire trucks bustling throughout the downtown streets. They were headed to his apartment. It was something, Boyd wasn’t expecting.
The Terrace was on fire.
“I panicked,” Boyd said. “I panicked.”
Mount Vernon Fire Department and other departments arrived at the apartment complex Saturday afternoon — amid the Mount Vernon Music & Arts Festival. Traffic was piled up with central downtown roadways closed for the festival’s activities.
Where did the fire start?
The fire originated on the mattress at tenant Minnie Dayton’s apartment. Dayton and her daughter Tara unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the fire and called 911 while exiting the building, according to Mount Vernon Fire Department’s incident report.
Mount Vernon Fire Chief Chad Christopher estimates between 12-15 residents live in the apartment complex.
Tara then ran throughout the building, knocking on people’s doors to alert them a fire started and they needed to exit immediately.
“If she didn’t do that we wouldn’t have known (about the fire,)” tenant Jessica Wardrop said. “So because of her we’re still standing here. She didn’t think of herself she thought of others and that’s commendable.”
Firefighters arrived at the blaze, as dark, heavy smoke was escaping from window’s of the north side’s exterior.
Wardrop said the “bomb” of smoke developed throughout the building, making the air difficult to breathe.
Visibility was another side effect of the smoke, tenant David Lober said, holding his hand six inches away from his face to visualize how far he could see while escaping from The Terrace.
‘I could see smoke and flames’
Residents gathered outside while firefighters went to the smoke-filled scene to eliminate the growing blaze, consuming the second-floor apartment where the blaze originated.
“As I pulled past the scene I could see smoke and flames coming out of a second-story rear apartment and advised E491 to proceed to the second floor for fire attack and search upon their arrival,” according to the incident report.
“Captain 491 was approached by a lady who advised that her husband had just went into the building prior to our arrival and has not returned. Shortly after multiple PD officers and
residents advised that there were still people inside the other apartments in the structure.”
No injuries were reported.
Search crews assisted between four to five individuals out of the building during their primary search of their assigned floors, the report states. Engine 511 arrived on scene and was assigned to the first floor for search. In total, agencies were on scene for roughly two hours.
Firefighters and EMS also searched the others floors and the basement.
There is an estimated $100,000 in property loss, according to MVFD’s incident report.
Afterward, residents grabbed necessary items from their apartment, according to the report.
When will residents be able to move back in?
As of Tuesday, tenants stayed in the Super 8 Hotel off Coshocton Avenue, paid for by the Red Cross and Salvation Army, Winter Sanctuary, Kno-Ho-Co and Inter Church, according to donation organizer for the survivors Raejean Wheeler. Knox Area Transit also offered free transportation for the survivors.
Clothes and hygiene items were dropped off for the Terrace residents, with boxes piling up nearly reaching the walls of Super 8.
Most tenants have been given the “OK” to return to their apartments, Wheeler said, after the electricity was checked throughout The Terrace.
The aftermath of the fire can be still be seen on the brick building’s north side. Exploding glass lay on the ground and blackness coats the bricks surrounding the window. Air easily goes into the shattered window — where fire and smoke rolled out.
Though the remnants of the fire remain at The Terrace, Boyd says he’s stays optimistic for the future.
“If you’re gonna go through something like this all the time and it’s best just go out there and live your life, your life to the fullest. Live your life at 100. Stay positive.”