It's a bit hard to type while tears begin to stain my keyboard.

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

I am really sorry.

 

I can't begin to imagine the pain of your loss. You are in my thoughts.

 

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner





Two die in apartment fire
By AMANDA BOHMAN
Staff Writer


Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - Two people died and several others are homeless after a fire at an apartment building off Airport Way late Monday, according to the Fairbanks Fire Department.

Fire Marshal Ernie Misewicz is withholding the names of the victims, an adult and a baby, pending notification of the next of kin.

The fire started about 11:30 p.m. at the River City Court Apartments at 741 Gaffney Road. Six area departments responded, said a statement from the Fairbanks Fire Department.

One of the first firefighters to arrive at the scene said he saw flames coming from a downstairs unit, and the balcony of a second-floor unit was burning. The two-story wooden structure holds 14 apartments.

Firefighters found the two bodies after knocking down the flames, Misewicz said. The people were not living in the apartment where the fire appears to have started, he said.

Officials are still determining the cause of the fire and the dollar value of the damage.

"It looks like it could be a complete loss at this point," said Realtor Dave Somers, a partner in the company that owns the building. "We have been more concerned with the loss of life than the loss of the building at this time."

Somers arrived at the scene after alerted by an apartment manager and set up a waiting area for tenants at his real estate firm a few doors down, he said.

"It was a pretty horrific night," he said.

Officials are also determining whether the building's smoke detectors worked, the fire marshal said. Somers said the smoke detectors were checked recently.

"There was a statement made by tenants that the fire alarms did go off and wake them up," Somers said.

Four units were occupied when the fire broke out, said the fire department statement. Seven units were rented with two more units due to have renters move in, Somers said.

The apartment building, formerly the Gaffney Motel, lies on a commercial thoroughfare near a birthing clinic, a chiropractor, a tanning salon and real estate firms.

Investigators found no foul play in connection with the fire, Misewicz said. The building is insured, according to Somers.

The landlord is helping find alternative housing for people ousted by the fire, he said.

The American Red Cross of Alaska also responded to the fire and offered food, clothing and shelter to apartment tenants in need, a Red Cross statement said.

Joining the Fairbanks Fire Department in response to the fire were the Fort Wainwright Fire Department, University Fire Department, Steese Volunteer Fire Department, North Star Volunteer Fire Department and the North Pole Fire Department, the statement from Fairbanks Fire said.

Reporter Amanda Bohman can be reached at abohman@newsminer.com or 459-7544.


then later.

Names of fire victims released




(01/04/06) Fairbanks police released the names Wednesday afternoon of the two people who died in Monday night's structure fire at the Gaffney motel building.

While extinguishing the blaze, fire personnel found the bodies of one adult female and one infant in a second floor room. Police identified them as 28-year-old Stacy Szczeblewski and 10-month-old Kianna Kae Peryea.

Officials say evidence on-scene indicates that the fire started on the first floor of the motel and traveled to the second floor.

A definitive determination of cause-of-death for both individuals is pending while autopsies are being completed.

A third person was hospitalized for treatment of burns and smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.


I'm just putting this stuff here, because I'll probably bookmark this thread one of these days.

Thank you once again everyone.

 

Logan, I'm so sorry to hear this. Losing someone you love is never easy. I'm glad you have family to support you.

I will keep you in my prayers.

 

http://hipforums.com/forums/member.php?u=28157

On the old forums she was HempGirl420

 

So how are you holding up man?


When's your dad coming in?

 

how did you meet her if you dont mind me asking...

 

We were good friends before I joined the army, but after going on leave one time we got to know each other little better. Before I know it a year later I ask her hand in marriage.

 

Oh my goodness. Honey, I am so very, very sorry. I can't even begin to imagine how you must be feeling right now.

Much peace and healing...

 

Logan, I am so sorry to hear this! You are in my thoughts and my prayers. If ever you need someone to talk to, don't hesitate to PM me. I wish I could hug you. I bet you need a lot of those right now.

 

hugs to you lodog

take care of yourself

 

I am so sorry to hear that. I know hearing sorry's don't help much- I've lost several best friends over the past few years. But it does help knowing people care. I wish there was more I could do for you.

To Those Who Grieve
​

Still your weeping
Dry your tears
Grieve not for me
For I am near
Go not to that earthy mound
I lie not there, beneath the ground
I am near you every day
I see your pleasures, joys and fears
Still to my heart you are dear
I am with you – ever near
To see you weep saddens me
To see your joy gladdens me
So – hinder not my happy way
We will meet another day.​

​

that poem is one I have on my wall. I thought it might help *hugs*​

 

Stay Strong.

 

Truly sorry to hear that Logan.

 

Damn. Sincerest condolences.

 

Lodog, you will be in my thoughts and prayers...

 

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner


Flames blocked only exits in fatal fire
By AMANDA BOHMAN
Staff Writer


Thursday, January 05, 2006 - A woman and child who died in a fire Monday were trapped in their one-room apartment by flames, according to witnesses.

Stacy Szczeblewski, 28, was baby-sitting 10-month-old Kianna Peryea when the fire broke out in the unit below them at about 11:30 p.m. Szczeblewski shared the room with Peryea's parents, who had gone to the store.

Witnesses said flames from the lower apartment reached the balcony of the upstairs apartment. The door and window facing the balcony provided the only entrance and exit to and from the room. To flee the fire, Szczeblewski would have had to carry the baby through the flames.

Fairbanks Fire Chief Warren Cummings said he is examining the fire department's response.

Firefighters busy with ambulance calls were stretched thin when the fire alarm went off, Cummings said. The first fire engine to respond to the burning building, located five blocks from the Fairbanks Fire Department, came from Fort Wainwright, according to witnesses.

Firefighters found the bodies after knocking down the flames, according to officials from the Fairbanks police and fire departments. Fire Marshal Ernie Misewicz declined to say where in the room they were found.

A man residing in the downstairs apartment where the fire started remains at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where he is being treated for burns and smoke inhalation, according to Misewicz and a statement from the Fairbanks Police Department.

The 48-year-old apartment building on Gaffney Road was not in violation of fire codes, said Misewicz, who is investigating the fire's cause.

The deaths of Szczeblewski and Peryea are the first fire fatalities in Alaska this year.

Szczeblewski, who was from Illinois, had worked with the baby's mother in a craft store after coming to Alaska more than a year ago with her husband, Logan, a U.S. Army soldier. Peryea was the only child of Tina Smith, 25, and John Peryea IV, 24.

Szczeblewski, who was born with only one hand, was raised in Albers, Ill., according to her mother and uncle.

At the age of 16, Szczeblewski got a job in a nursing home. She took classes to be a certified nurse's aide and hoped to work with people who are developmentally delayed, said Agnes Netemeyer, Szczeblewski's mother.

Szczeblewski also liked to make necklaces from hemp, her mother said. She sold a few, but gave most of them away.

After Szczeblewski graduated from Central Community High School in Breese, Ill., in 1995, she took a graduation trip to Alaska and liked it. Szczeblewski was excited when her husband was transferred here, Netemeyer said.

"I think that's what Stace liked about it the most was the summers," Netemeyer said. "And the northern lights. She was hoping to take some pictures for me, but she didn't have a camera."

Netemeyer bought her daughter a camera for Christmas, but hadn't mailed it because she wasn't sure about the address.

Szczeblewski was saving money to return to Illinois to see her family before joining her husband in Kentucky, Netemeyer said.

Smith and Peryea are among several people ousted by the fire. They are staying in a hotel and are taking comfort in a passage from the Book of Corinthians in the Bible, Smith said.

"Kianna was just the happiest baby ever," Smith said. "She smiled every day no matter what.

"We would joke around about her being a 6-foot-tall redheaded supermodel. Everybody in her dad's family is tall."

Smith said she and her boyfriend had gone to Fred Meyer when they received a call on Smith's cell phone about the fire. When they reached the scene, Gaffney Road was blocked off.

"They wouldn't even let us turn the corner in our car," Smith said.

The couple parked their car and ran to the apartment building, a two-story wooden structure with 14 units sitting on a commercial thoroughfare among a tanning salon, birthing clinic and chiropractor.

Peryea ran to the bottom of the stairs in an attempt to reach the burning balcony, but was stopped by firefighters, Smith said.

"They lied and said they searched the room and everything was OK," Smith said. "I think they just told us that to keep us quiet."

Smith first rented a room in the building--formerly the Gaffney Motel and now called River City Court Apartments--more than a year ago. She paid $450 a month for the upstairs room and sometimes received a break for cleaning the laundry room.

The lack of ways to escape in the event of a fire never dawned on Smith.

"The whole time we lived there, I never really thought about if anything was going to happen, what would anybody do?" she said.

The deaths follow a tragic year in which 20 people died in fires statewide. That's eight more fatalities than 2004.

Reporter Amanda Bohman can be reached at abohman@newsminer.com or 459-7544.

 

aw that is so sad.... i cant imagine how you must have felt when you heard about that.

she sounds like she was an amazing person.... and the poor baby too.

anyways, i hope you are doing okay, logan.

 

thats heartbreaking. just heartbreaking.