Commons fire leaves residents unsure of future

ROBERT NATT / photo editor Firefighters work to put out the fire that destroyed a building in the Commons Saturday. Students who lost their apartments and belongings in the fire have started to rebuild and move on. The Commons management said they plan to have the burned building rebuilt by April or May 2002.

Now that the ash has settled from the remains of the fire-ravaged building at 891 Port Republic Road, the 48 JMU students the blaze left homeless last Saturday must face the daunting task of completing all upcoming class assignments, re-doing all projects and papers lost in the fire and studying for final exams without their textbooks or notes.

Perhaps the most overwhelming factor is that most of the students have few items but the clothes on their backs and small items donated to them through the Student Government Association donation drive held this week in Taylor and other contributors.

"It's weird," junior Brian Witthoefft said. "I feel like I've been violated because all my stuff is gone. But there is no one to blame, there is no way to get your stuff back."

Junior Amit Varna said, "Material stuff can always be replaced. But I really miss coming back to my old place, lying on the couch, e-mailing people on the computer. All the things you take for granted. My pillow … I had that pillow for eight years."

Completing assignments and finishing up the semester with good grades were consistent fears among most of the fire victims.

"My grades are, without a doubt, my biggest worry," junior Joanna Swett said. "We have to find a place to live and after we're settled, we have only a few weeks left in the semester."

Varma said, "Most of my teachers have been helpful, cutting me some slack. They're accommodating for us, postponing tests and papers. I lost everything I had on my computer and most of my notes. I need those notes. I have a couple of cumulative tests."

Senior Tim Denoyer said, "One of my professors offered me a place to stay and even invited me to have Thanksgiving dinner at his place."

At an informational meeting on Monday in Grafton-Stovall Theatre, the 48 fire victims and some of their parents discussed the situation in an open forum with representatives from LB&J Limited, the company that owns the Commons, JMU faculty and staff members, employees of Off-Campus Life and others.

"I think JMU is obviously trying to help," Witthoefft said. The meeting on Monday was a good time for faculty to hear our concerns. There were 48 of us looking for answers and the faculty came looking for questions. We came in there with expectations to be told what to do and we really didn't get that."
Junior Adam Terminella said, despite the meeting, "JMU hasn't done much yet, but they don't know fully what our needs are. They don't understand what we require.

"It's hard to make accommodations for us without knowing what are needs are," he said. "The effort is there, though."

Sophomore Jessica Lumsden said, "I think it's hard because it's uncharted territory. But at the same time, the fire wasn't our fault and we're being penalized."

LB&J provided accommodations for the students at Shoney's Inn from the day of the blaze until yesterday at noon.

"I think LB&J is doing a great job," Varma said. "They didn't have to accommodate us and give us vouchers for free food (at Shoney's Restaurant and other local restaurants). They even gave us clothes and other donations."
Junior Marty Flanigan was not as content with LB&J. "I wish they had put us in Shoney's for longer, at least until Thanksgiving," he said.

Many of the fire victims will be staying with friends for the few remaining weeks of the semester. They will have to decide soon whether to terminate their leases with the Commons and look for housing in a different apartment complex, or choose to live in Park Apartments and move back to building 891 in the spring once it has been rebuilt.

"I'm graduating in December," Denoyer said. "I might just end up sleeping on a friend's couch until then. I'm not looking forward to being homeless."

Witthoefft said, "The new feeling is that you're going to be a burden to your friends."

The fire left many of the students feeling overwhelmed and violated.

"Fire is not something you ever expect to happen to you," Lumsden said.

Witthoefft said he and one of his roommates were gone, getting breakfast at the Waffle House, for no more than 10 minutes when they realized they had left a bag that a guest needed at a SunChase apartment.

They turned around and, while on Neff Avenue, noticed the flames and smoke pouring from an apartment in the Commons, he said.

"I could count down the row and see it was ours," Witthoefft said. "And then we realized another roommate was still asleep back in our apartment."

Witthoefft called 911 from the car and then he and his roommate sped back to the burning building.

They left the car running in the parking lot and began banging on all the apartment doors, yelling for people to get out. Witthoefft said the smoke was too thick to get upstairs, so he and his roommates ran around the back to yell up to his sleeping roommate's window.

His roommate eventually woke up and was forced to climb down two balconies from the third floor because the smoke was so thick in the stairwell.

"It was so ironic that we were the only people that knew he was sleeping," Witthoefft said. "If we hadn't forgotten that bag … it gives us chills to think about it."

Terminella said the biggest loss in the fire wasn't anything material, but "the loss of community we had. Before, we could walk in any apartment in the building. We're all going to be separated now. That's irreplaceable."