2008 Woodie Awards
Helping students displaced by fire
Students assisted with emergency housing, free meal plans and textbooks
Heather Steeves
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: News
A Pine Street fire pushed four University of Maine undergraduate students out of their Orono apartment Wednesday at approximately 10 a.m. on Jan. 16 according to the Orono Fire Department. A mattress, which had blankets draped over it, was against an electric baseboard heater and this is what started the fire, according to Lieutenant Bryan Hardison. The fire was confined to the upstairs which now has heat and smoke damage.
UMaine offered emergency temporary housing and meal plans to the students. Two of the displaced students lived in the free housing which was offered to them from Jan. 17 through Jan. 22. The university also gave the students textbooks at no charge.
"Everyone with the university treated us as if we were their own kids. They worked really hard to help us get back on track," said Patty Perlman, a resident of the apartment.
"We've offered emergency housing. They've been placed in a residence hall with a temporary meal plan," said Andrea Gifford, the Director of Student and Administrative Support Services. "Our priority is just to get them what they need."
"It makes my stomach turn to think what would have happened if it started in the middle of the night. I always thought if there was a fire I would grab everything I own on the way out, but when it actually happens all you can think about is the people you love and if they are OK," Perlman said.
The fire left one fireman injured. He slipped on ice while entering the apartment and twisted his ankle.
Hardison said both Orono and Old Town Fire departments were at the Orono station celebrating the unveiling of a new fire truck when the call came in from one of the residents of a downstairs apartment at 9:52 a.m.
UMaine offered emergency temporary housing and meal plans to the students. Two of the displaced students lived in the free housing which was offered to them from Jan. 17 through Jan. 22. The university also gave the students textbooks at no charge.
"Everyone with the university treated us as if we were their own kids. They worked really hard to help us get back on track," said Patty Perlman, a resident of the apartment.
"We've offered emergency housing. They've been placed in a residence hall with a temporary meal plan," said Andrea Gifford, the Director of Student and Administrative Support Services. "Our priority is just to get them what they need."
"It makes my stomach turn to think what would have happened if it started in the middle of the night. I always thought if there was a fire I would grab everything I own on the way out, but when it actually happens all you can think about is the people you love and if they are OK," Perlman said.
The fire left one fireman injured. He slipped on ice while entering the apartment and twisted his ankle.
Hardison said both Orono and Old Town Fire departments were at the Orono station celebrating the unveiling of a new fire truck when the call came in from one of the residents of a downstairs apartment at 9:52 a.m.
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