By Tina L. Scott
MMC Staff
MERRILL – It was late afternoon on Tuesday, June 22, around 4:30 p.m. or so, and Allen Fleischman, a manager at the Merrill Walgreens, was at home in his apartment, unit 10 in the Park City Apartments complex at 711 Martin Street in Merrill. His fiancé, Kristin Duberstein, was at work in Wausau; she is a manager at the Wausau Walgreens.
“I was napping. I woke up to smell smoke,” Fleischman said. “I woke up to smoke and flames up to the roof already.”
The first thing he thought of was saving their cat, Oliver. But where was he? It was a bit of a scramble looking for him. “He was under the bed,” Fleischman said. “I grabbed him and got him out.”
Fleischman, along with other residents in the complex, was outside when emergency crews started arriving, standing there watching the smoke and flames, holding Oliver. He and his fiance lost everything in the fire. He didn’t even have the proverbial “shirt on his back,” as he had been napping without a shirt.
“I’ve got scratches all over from him,” Fleischman said of the black cat he held firmly and lovingly in his arms and clasped to his bare chest. “He’s scared. He’s very scared of vehicles.”
All of the commotion and the emergency vehicles, the fire trucks, the loud sounds of extension ladders going up, and each new noise startled Oliver visibly.
“He’s just not used to it,” Fleischman added.
Admittedly, as Fleischman comforted Oliver, Oliver may have also been providing a comfort to Fleischman. Holding him did help “a little bit,” Fleischman said. “I’m still worried about everything that’s going on in there.”
While he was able to rescue the cat, “There are two animals in the house still,” he said. “A hamster and a gecko. I wasn’t able to get them.”
People often talk about pets becoming like family.
“They do,” Fleischman confirmed. While he was thankful for having Oliver, he was also sad at the almost certain demise of the other pets.
Luckily, his other, most important, family member wasn’t home at the time the fire broke out.
“Kristin is still at work right now; she’s trying to find someone to cover for her to come here,” he said.
‘I went back in for my wife’s portable oxygen …’
For Ken Drost and his wife, Vicky, who lived in unit 9, directly below Fleischman’s apartment, it wasn’t a cat that they saved.
“Smoke was coming through the ceiling,” Ken Drost said. “My wife said to get out,” which they did.
“I went back in for my wife’s portable oxygen,” he said. “The big one is still in there.”
Vicky Drost was using the oxygen tank, holding on to a literal lifeline, as she and her husband watched the fire. Most of their possessions were quite literally going up in smoke. But they were thankful no one was hurt and for each other.
Ken said he called 911 when they got out, but others had already called and firefighters were en route.
A short time later, Ken called his son, Doug, to see if they could stay at his house for the night. It was quickly apparent they weren’t going to be returning to their apartment.
Merrill, surrounding areas respond to call
Merrill Fire Chief Josh Klug said the Merrill Fire Department (FD) was dispatched to the apartment building and responded immediately with 63-Truck, Engine-62, and Med-62.
“Upon arrival, heavy black smoke and fire was showing from the rear of the building,” he said in a press release issued immediately following the incident. “Merrill Police Department was also on scene and assisting residents out of their respective apartments.”
“Firefighters started putting the large fire out, while others continued to search and verify all occupants were safely outside,” the release said.
They also called for reinforcements.
“Merrill FD Command initially requested mutual aid from Tomahawk EMS and Pine River, Corning, Russell, and Wausau Fire Departments. Firefighters from those departments were assigned various tasks on the fireground. Tomahawk EMS took an ambulance call during the fire, as well,” the release said. “As the incident duration expanded, additional mutual aid from Antigo, Maine, and Hamburg Fire Departments were also requested to the scene. Antigo FD took a second ambulance call, as well, for us during the incident.”
Merrill Water Utility and Wisconsin Public Service were also called to the scene and assisted.
The American Red Cross, Lincoln County Emergency Management, and the Salvation Army were also called in and provided food and beverages to emergency responders and helped displaced residents with lodging and other immediate needs.
There are 32 units in the Park City Apartments complex. The fire and most of the damage was limited to one wing of the complex. “While several of the apartments units were badly damaged, 24 of the 32 units on the complex received minimal or no damage,” the Merrill FD press release said.
Of primary importance, no occupants were injured or hurt in the fire, and Oliver was also saved.
“A fire alarm pull station was used to alert occupants of the fire,” the press release said.
The Merrill Police and Fire Departments are continuing to jointly investigate the cause of the fire.
Update
On June 25, Fleischman and Duberstein got a call that their two geckos were found alive in the rubbish from the fire. While they did lose all of their possessions, they were reunited with the geckos. NOTE: In his interview standing outside the burning building, it’s understandable that Fleischman mispoke when he spoke of “two animals … a hamster and a gecko.” They actually had a hamster and two geckos.
Reminder
While this story tells of a man who grabbed and saved a family pet and another who went back in to get his wife’s oxygen, and no one was injured, such stories don’t always have a happy ending. In the event of a fire, the most important thing is to just get out; get all the people out. Never re-enter a burning building to try to save a pet or possessions.