Iowa State University Students Escape Off-campus Building Blaze

Morgan Bennett considers herself lucky. It could have been much worse.

But then again, each of the building’s 75 residents are lucky because despite the loss of their belongs and one pet cat, they all got out of their burning apartment building safe, and no one was hurt.

The cause of the fire at the Oak Ridge apartment building on South Fourth Street early Monday morning remains under investigation.

Bennett, who is an employee of the Ames Tribune, recalls being awakened from a deep sleep about 4 a.m. by someone banging on her bedroom window on the first-floor of the now charred building. The patio doors and windows to her apartment are now boarded up. The smell of the fire is still recognizable in the air.

At first, she thought the banging on her window was someone joking around.

“So I just rolled over and didn’t think anything of it,” Bennett said.

Then her roommate came in and told her smoke detectors were going off and that someone pounded on her window, too, and suggested they go outside.

When they got into the hallway, they heard someone knocking on doors and yelling “fire, everyone get out, fire, so we thought, oh my goodness, this is real,” Bennett said. “We came out in the parking lot and you could see fire trucks, people everywhere, police officers, people running around trying to get people out.”

Ames Fire Chief Shawn Bayouth said despite there not being any injuries, the emotional toll on people who lived in the 33-unit building can’t be minimized.

“The impact on these individuals will be life-transforming when you thinking about the amount of property these people lost,” Bayouth said.

Bennett, who fled with only the clothes she was wearing, her glasses and her cell phone, said she was able to return to her apartment later that day to salvage what she could.

“Most of my clothes are fine, there is water damage basically,” she said. “It looked like it was raining inside, that’s how much was there was. The floor was completely soaked. All my electronics are shot. My bed. I got to save most of my clothes. We got pretty lucky on this end here.”

Bennett, who had just moved into the building a week earlier, said the fire still didn’t seem real, even standing outside looking at the damage on Wednesday.

“I’m so, so thankful people were doing the best they could to get people out as fast as possible. Someone knocked on the window loud enough to wake me up, I’m glad they did,” she said.

Bayouth credited the quick reaction by residents of the building and police officers who were first to arrive at the scene for the safe evacuation of residents.

“Some of the things residents can keep in their minds is to make sure if you’re awakened in the middle night by another resident, a police officer or a smoke detector going off or someone shouting, to move as quickly as you can to get out. And people did that,” Bayouth said.

“People lost a lot of belongings and memories, but on the bright side, if there is one, no one was hurt and there were no fatalities,” Bayouth said.

Another thing residents of the building did right was they didn’t stop to grab belongings or try to go back in. Most of them also gathered outside, with only a few leaving the area.

“The majority stayed right there, which helps us account for everyone,” Bayouth said.

The timing of the fire couldn’t have been worse, the chief said.

“I would say that with everyone home and asleep, it was one of the most dangerous times to have a fire,” Bayouth said.

It was the biggest fire as far as property damage the Ames Fire Department has responded to since another apartment building on South Fifth Street burned five years ago.

Bennett, who has temporarily moved back in with her parents in Ogden, said she feels lucky that she was able to get what she could, but acknowledged she wished she could have grabbed more before she fled.

“I know you’re not supposed to do … you hear of people wanting to grab old photos, but you don’t have time to do that, just get out. I didn’t know the extent of the fire, so you don’t know what’s happening. Just get out.

“Looking back it was traumatizing,” Bennett said. “It’s pretty scary.”

Going through the fire and beginning the recovery, Bennett said she has a greater appreciation for life.

“I made sure to hug my mom really tight when she came and picked me up, because the day I moved out could have been the last time I saw her. I could have died. Definitely, tell people you love them as much as you can. You never know what will happen.”

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