Broken light bulb started Carbon Cliff fire

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By Thomas Geyer and Dustin Lemmon | Friday, November 9, 2007 12:04 AM CST | () comments

(JEFF COOK/ QUAD-CITY TIMES) A 40-unit apartment complex on Rebecca Ave. in Carbon Cliff, Ill., was heavily damaged by flames on Thursday, Nov. 08, 2007. Buy this Photo

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Terrie Robinson could only sit in her wheelchair and watch as her apartment went up in flames Thursday along with 13 others at the Mansur Wood Living Center in Carbon Cliff, Ill.

It was her apartment, number 1032 on Rebecca Drive, where the fire started, she said. It was completely destroyed.

Like the residents of at least 14 of the 22 units in that building complex, whatever Robinson possessed that was in her home was now either fuel for the flames or ashes.

“All we know is that my grandson said the light bulb in the lamp broke then sparked and then the curtains caught fire,” Robinson said.

Carbon Cliff Fire Chief Larry Scott confirmed Robinson’s observation late Thursday, adding that the lamp got knocked over and the light bulb busted and caught some material on the floor on fire. “It escalated from there,” he said.

Scott heard that the grandson felt so bad that he allegedly passed out notes to other residents saying he was sorry.

Meanwhile, Blaze Restoration company was on the scene around 10 p.m. securing the complex, boarding up windows and locking doors.

Due to the large amount of water needed to fight the fire, the Village of Carbon Cliff was asking residents Thursday to limit excessive water use for 24 hours.

Village Clerk Karen Hopkins said in a news release that firefighters were drawing from all wells to battle the blaze.

The American Red Cross of the Quad-Cities Area said late Thursday that 19 families totaling 46 individuals were being given emergency shelter and other services after they were left homeless by the fire.

Red Cross spokeswoman Leslie Anthony said that a volunteer was still on the scene late Thursday.

“This is going to be very expensive,” Anthony said. “We’re already at $10,000 and counting.”

Anyone who wants to help the victims of the Mansur Wood fire can make a monetary donation to the American Red Cross of the Quad-Cities Area.

Robinson’s apartment sits fifth from the western end of the building. It did not take long for the fire to spread to the west end, nor was it long before apartments to the east were ablaze.

Dave Rodman of Rapids City saw the thick black smoke billowing into the sky as he was driving Thursday afternoon.

He was on the scene with the first fire trucks and was amazed at how quickly the fire spread.

“I followed the first fire truck in and it was blazing,” he said of the building.

No one was hurt, he said, adding 14 units were damaged by the fire and 12 were no longer suitable for living in.

Scott said the fire call came in at 3:20 p.m. and the first crews were on the scene four minutes later.

Some residents had said it took the fire department 15 minutes to arrive on the scene. Another said it took too long for someone to call 911.

When he arrived, Scott said he could see flames shooting out of a second story window.

“It started really fast,” he said, adding the wind was partly to blame and that “fire stops in the building prevented the fire from spreading” to other buildings.

He credited Illini ambulance service and Rock Island County Sheriff’s deputies, who were there first, with going door to door and getting people out.

Scott said around 200 fire fighters were on the scene.

The fire departments that responded included crews from Silvis, Colona, Coal Valley, East Moline, Moline, Geneseo, Port Byron, Barstow, Osco and Erie,

Joe Dopler, a double amputee, sat in his wheelchair and watched. He lived in unit 1036, next door to Robinson.

“I was sitting in my recliner watching TV and saw people walking around outside,” Dopler said. “Somebody said the building is on fire so I slid into this chair and got out.”

Dopler’s fiancée, Bonnie Ledbetter, said the fire “spread fast. I mean fast. The smoke was so thick you couldn’t see, but you could feel the heat standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the street.”

She added that Dopler’s recent physical therapy gave him the ability to move quickly.

Dopler’s Ford pickup truck sat in the driveway, with a big Denver Broncos sticker emblazoned on the driver’s side.

“The Fire Department wanted us to move it,” Ledbetter said, “but we couldn’t go back in for the keys.” The truck showed no damage.

By 5 p.m., there were only pockets of hot spots and minor areas where flames popped up.

Keri Dehn, who lives with her mother and boyfriend in unit 1022, stood crying as she watched one of those pockets of flame eat away at what was left of her home.

“That’s my home that’s still burning,” she said.

Dehn’s mother, Geri Burwell, said she didn’t think the flames would make it all the way down to their place.

“I saw smoke going by the window,” she said, adding that when she got outside, there was thick, black smoke pouring out of the back of Robinson’s unit.

Burwell said she told Dehn not to worry and to slow down. Dehn left her job at Bennigans restaurant in Rock Island at 4:15 p.m.

“I didn’t think the fire would spread so fast to my apartment,” Burwell said.

Dehn’s boyfriend, Paul Ringley, said it makes no sense that the fire spread so fast, despite the fact there were firewalls in the building.

“I’ve built houses a long time,” he said. If building codes are the same here as his home state of Maryland, then the firewall only has to go to the ceiling, and does not have to extend through to the roof.

The three then went to where the Red Cross had set up its aid center.

“They said they’d put us up for three nights,” Burwell said.

She added that she is in Section 8 housing.

“They were supposed to come out and inspect the unit,” she said that a representative of Housing and Urban Development that runs the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program was to come out and give an inspection of her unit.

“I guess they can’t do that now,” she said, looking back at her burned out home.

Mansur Wood is a 115-unit townhouse-style apartment community located just off Illinois 84 on Mansur Avenue. Situated in a park-like setting, it is made up of 27 single family home lots and 32 townhouse villas, in addition to the 115 townhouse-style apartments.

A grand opening complete with ribbon cutting was held for the community in January of 2000.

At that time, developer John McChurch was putting the community together for his company, Heartland Development. McChurch died in 2006. The tax bill for the property is now sent to First American Real Estate, Irving, Texas.

Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.

Dustin Lemmon can be contacted at (563) 383-2493 or dlemmon@qctimes.com