NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — A day after a fire ripped through an apartment building, displacing dozens of residents, city officials are still surveying the damage and investigating the cause.
On Sunday at The Westbury Apartments, smoke and flames could be seen pouring from the building. Nearly 24 hours later, residents like John Wiley still don’t know where to go.
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“So, I mean, my apartment, I can't get into right now. I'm currently displaced because of that,“ Wiley said.
Wiley says he was home Sunday when he heard the fire alarms go off a little before 2 p.m. At first, he thought it was something minor — until he got into the hallway.
“I get about three floors down, and I see smoke just barreling out of the hallway,” said Wiley.
When he got outside, he realized just how serious it was.
“After that, it was really just chaos and just people pouring out of here, and then everybody's just standing around the parking lot,” said Wiley.
City officials tell News 5 that six people were injured but are expected to be OK. Some residents were evacuated, while others were told to shelter in place. The fire started on the fifth floor and spread at least two floors upward. A total of 64 apartment units were affected, with damage ranging from minor to severe.
“The apartment on the end, there was heavy fire damage in that apartment, apartment 501, it’s a range of anything from smoke damage, to water damage, from the water draining down through the structure,” said North Olmsted Fire Chief Ed Schepp.
While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, the fire department says the building was up to code at the time.
“This year our Fire Prevention Bureau, which is very proactive at getting into high hazard occupancy, such as the Westbury Victoria Plaza, those kind of buildings, we make sure that we get in and inspect those for fire code fire violations, they have a very short window to make sure that those violations are corrected at the time of the fire, there were no fire violations,” said Schepp.
For now, fire crews are escorting displaced residents in and out of the building to retrieve essential belongings. But officials say the timeline for when they can return is still unclear.
“Once we know what that damage is, once we know the extent of damage to the individual apartment units, then we can work with the property management team to notify those residents,” said Jennifer Scofield, director of public safety.
As for Wiley, his apartment is on the eighth floor. He says it doesn’t appear to be damaged, but he still can’t stay there, forcing him to find somewhere else to go.
“One, any kind of compensation for this, because i have to miss work because of this, I have, like, I'm probably going to have to wind up getting a hotel and paying out of pocket for that,” said Wiley.
The city tells News 5 that any residents impacted should contact the Red Cross and the property management. They say they are working with both entities to ensure every resident gets the immediate relief they need
Also, the apartment building and the Red Cross are taking donations.
