Geneva Tower residents hoping to move home soon T

Geneva Tower residents hoping to return to home soon after fire

That could happen yet this week on lower floors of Cedar Rapids apartment building

Emily Andersen

Feb. 21, 2022 4:53 pm, Updated: Feb. 23, 2022 10:19 am

Patti Dunleavy, a Geneva Tower resident, looks at her dog, Sophie, as the two shelter at Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids. They were displaced from Dunleavy’s apartment by an early Sunday fire. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Red Cross disaster health services volunteer Sue Tranel (right) comforts Geneva Tower resident Annette Titera after taking her blood pressure Monday at the Red Cross shelter at Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids. Titera was displaced by a Sunday morning fire on the building’s ninth floor. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Geneva Tower resident Ethel Brown puts on her coat next to her cot and oxygen supply Monday at the Red Cross shelter at Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids. She is among the residents displayed by a Sunday morning fire at the apartment building. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Sophie stands at the bedside of her owner, Patti Dunleavy, Monday at Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids. Dunleavy was among those displaced by an early Sunday fire at Geneva Tower early Sunday. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Sophie lies on the bed of her owner, Geneva Tower resident Patti Dunleavy, on Monday at the Red Cross shelter at Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Volunteers set up tables as they prepare for lunch Monday at the Red Cross shelter at Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

CEDAR RAPIDS — Ethel Brown woke to the sound of fire alarms early Sunday. She thought it was a false alarm because Geneva Tower has had those before.

But when first responders came pounding on her door, she knew she had to evacuate.

Brown is one of 160 residents evacuated from the 12-story apartment building, 310 Fifth Ave. SE, after a fire was reported shortly after midnight Saturday on the ninth floor.

Cedar Rapids fire officials have not yet released the cause of the fire.

The residents — many of them older and disabled — are sheltering at Veterans Memorial Building or with family and friends and eager to return to their homes, according to Debbie Craig with the Affordable Housing Network, which owns Geneva Tower.

The bottom seven floors of the building did not sustain much damage, and the Affordable Housing Network is working with the city to determine when residents can start moving back. Craig said she hopes that could happen, in phases, later this week.

“They love being downtown, and they can’t wait to get back home,” she said.

The building has 60 one-bedroom apartments and 132 efficiency units.

Some of the apartments, mostly on the ninth and tenth floors, will be uninhabitable for a while, Craig said, adding she is working with Waypoint to find housing for those residents.

She said Geneva Tower has some vacant apartments on the lower floors, which will help, and the Affordable Housing Network has other units available.

No deaths were reported in the fire, but one resident was being treated for smoke inhalation and possible heat-related injuries, and a number of others were taken to hospitals for smoke exposure and other medical issues.

Shelters

Veritas Church, which is across the street from Geneva Tower, became a temporary Red Cross shelter immediately after the fire.

Fifty-two residents were moved to a more permanent shelter Sunday evening at the Veterans Memorial Building, with others joining them later, said Pami Erickson, executive director of the Eastern Iowa Red Cross Chapter. Other residents are staying with family or friends, she added.

Geneva Tower employees were contacting tenants individually Monday to give updates and make sure they all have somewhere to stay, Craig said.

Geneva Tower apartments are rented to mostly low-income seniors and adults with disabilities, so many of the residents have specific medical needs.

Erickson said Red Cross emergency responders are working with public health case workers to replace medications or medical supplies lost in the fire, including items like prescription glasses.

“At this time … all their immediate needs are going to be taken care of. I think it’s going very smooth,” Erickson said.

Brown, who uses a walker, said a first responder helped her down the fire escape from her sixth-floor apartment.

“I was just thankful that everybody got out safe,” she said. “If we don’t get back home tomorrow, just keep us in your prayers.”

Tom Brown, another resident staying at the shelter, said he left the building with nothing but a jacket, pants and shoes. The Red Cross has provided him with clothing and other necessities.

Even though his apartment is on the first floor, removed from the fire, the experience scared him, he said.

“I’m under a lot of anxiety right now,” he said.

He also has a cat that is at the humane society being treated for smoke inhalation.

Many of the Geneva Tower residents have service animals.

Patti Dunleavy was at the shelter Monday with her 15-year-old service dog, Sophie. Dunleavy is having a hard time living in the open shelter since she’s used to an apartment.