May 13--For years, Marysville firefighters have thought about what they would do if the Windsor High Rise apartments caught fire.
The complex south of downtown Marysville is about 40 years old, has no sprinklers and just one elevator, and is home to many senior citizens who use oxygen tanks to breathe or who struggle to walk.
"We kind of knew eventually something was going to happen there," Marysville Fire Chief Jay Riley said yesterday. Over the years, firefighters made plans and ran training exercises to prepare for a fire at the apartment building.
When a couch caught fire early Sunday on the second floor of the complex, they were ready. The call came in at 1:07 a.m. from a resident, Phil Ragsdale, who has lived in the complex for about three years. Ragsdale said he heard smoke alarms and stuck his head outside to investigate. Thick, black smoke was pouring into the hallway.
Ragsdale called 911 and ran down the hall, pounding on doors and shouting "Fire! Fire!"
Not 20 minutes later, Ragsdale said, flames were shooting through the roof.
"The fire just spread like it was poured on gasoline," he said.
There are 47 units in Windsor High Rise, and at 1 a.m. Sunday, when the complex caught fire, all but two were occupied. Many residents had made their way to the lobby, but some were stuck in their apartments.
"We had people hanging out their windows, and knocking on their windows to have us come help them," Riley said.
Firefighters brought five people down on ladders. They took seven to the hospital, all with minor injuries related to smoke inhalation or chest pains. Riley said he thought that all had been released.
Some residents went to stay with family or friends, but 13 members spent Sunday and yesterday at a nearby community center, where the Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter.
Julie Frim, a Red Cross disaster program manager, said the organization is trying to find long-term housing for those people. Some lost pets and belongings in the fire, she said, so counselors are helping them cope.
Riley said firefighters have not determined the cause of the fire.
@larenschield
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