Apartment fire near Coral Ridge Mall displaces 22; several pets lost

CORALVILLE — Several pets were lost and 22 people were displaced by a Wednesday afternoon fire that charred a multifamily apartment building just south of the Coral Ridge Mall.

The first call about flames at the 927 Boston Way complex came in at 4:09 Wednesday, according to Coralville Police Sgt. Damon Spencer. A dozen people who were home at the time were evacuated from the apartment building and one attached to it, according to the Coralville Fire Department.

“Everyone was able to get out safely under their own power,” according to Chief Orey Schwitzer, who added, “several pets were unable to be rescued.”

The 22 people displaced by the fire — which levied heavy damage estimated at about $1 million — are being helped by Johnson County Emergency Management, United Way, and the Red Cross.

“Firefighters remain on the scene completing the investigation,” Schwitzer said Thursday. “The cause of the fire is ruled to be accidental but is still under investigation.”

Initial reports were that it started on a deck, according to Sgt. Spencer, who said firefighters had the flames subdued within an hour and had cleared the scene Wednesday before 7 p.m.

As they attacked the blaze early on, neighbors gathered and comforted residents — including one tenant whose puppy had been trapped inside. Although firefighters did find the pet and attempted to resuscitate it, the dog died at the scene.

“The owner of the dog showed up like halfway through the fire trucks being here,” said Cloud Clavijo, 23, who was among those evacuated from the complex. “It was crazy watching all of the firemen go in searching for the dog that people rumored was in there.”

Once they found it, she said, “they did six minutes of CPR inside and then another 10 out here.”

  Buy Photo

Clavijo said she’d been home all day — on her day off — and had woken up around 10 a.m.

“It smelled like smoke all day,” she said. “I figured someone was having a little grill out, which usually happens in this area. People normally have little grill outs. So I didn't think much of it until I started hearing screaming a couple hours later.”

When Clavijo went out on her balcony, she saw the entire side of the attached building in flames.

“There was a car underneath the balconies, and it drove around, and shortly after that, the police showed up,” she said.

In her hurry to get out, Clavijo said she was rounding up her cats when law enforcement came running in ordering everyone to evacuate. She made it out safely with her three cats and phone.

Once firefighters were on scene working toward containment, Clavijo said she worried less about it spreading to her unit.

Bailey Harmston, 25, also lives nearby and walked over Wednesday to watch the containment efforts. She too wasn’t as worried about it spreading to her place as she was about those directly affected and their losses.

“I was just like, ‘Wow, that’s a massive structure fire. I hope everyone’s OK’,” she said. “And at this point I’m more thinking, where can I donate all my Goodwill goods?”

Assisting at the scene Wednesday were fire departments from North Liberty, Tiffin, West Branch, Hills, Solon, and Oxford. Also on scene were the Johnson County Ambulance Services, UI MedOne, EMA, Coralville Transit, JACOM, Mid-American Energy, and the Red Cross.

  Buy Photo

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com