By Kimberly Vetter
The Advocate
Copyright 2007 Capital City Press
All Rights Reserved
BATON ROUGE, La. — About 200 elderly and disabled residents of Turner Plaza will be displaced for the next few days because of a fire that damaged three of the public-housing complex’s buildings.
Gas and electricity were shut off in all 15 buildings during the fire and will not be turned back on until wires and lines have been checked, Baton Rouge Fire Department spokesman Howard Ward said.
Meanwhile, volunteers with the Louisiana Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross have given residents the option of staying with family or friends or at a shelter, spokesman Kendall Hebert said. Hebert did not say where the shelter was late Tuesday because volunteers were still setting it up and the organization wanted to minimize the possibility of those not affected by the fire coming by.
Most residents will be able to move back into their apartments after electricity and gas lines have been inspected and the city-parish has given the East Baton Rouge Housing Authority permission to do so, Ward said. Those who lived in the 36 units destroyed, however, will be displaced longer.
Richard Murray, executive director of the Housing Authority, said he is looking into whether some of those residents can move into unoccupied units at the complex.
“No one will be left without a place to live,” he said. “Those who are displaced will get adequate housing.”
Residents evacuated Turner Plaza, at 4546 North St. just west of North Foster Drive, about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday when three of its 15 buildings caught fire.
Two housing-complex residents were transferred to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries from smoke inhalation, Ward said.
Another 20 to 25 residents were assessed on the scene by Emergency Medical Services paramedics, spokesman Mike Chustz said.
The general alarm fire started at the complex when a maintenance employee doing plumbing work drilled into a gas line, which then started leaking, Ward said. There was a spark and then a flash of fire.
The maintenance worker was not injured, he said.
Firefighters completed their second search of the complex about 2 p.m., finding no one inside, Ward said. The fire was under control shortly after 1 p.m.
Two of the complex’s buildings were heavily damaged. A third building sustained light smoke damage, Ward said.
As firefighters fought the blaze, Gwen Jackson stood in a field next to the complex and talked to a friend and resident on her cell phone.
“I’m so glad he is alive,” Jackson said. “I’m glad he wasn’t in his apartment when this happened.”
Bernice Johnson stood in the same field and called her daughter, who had located Johnson’s sister and nephew.
Johnson’s sister and nephew live at the public housing complex and were at home when the fire started, she said.
“I was so upset when I heard about the fire,” Johnson said. “I wondered if my sister got out OK; she’s in her 80s.”
Along with several other complex residents, Johnson and her relatives sat in front of Bennie’s Bar & Lounge, 4675 North St., and watched the flames.
“This has happened before,” said 104-year-old Jeanette Walker, who has lived at the complex for 34 years. “It’s just never happened like this.”
EMS paramedics also transported people from Bennie’s to a nearby BREC park where the Red Cross was serving meals and talking to people about temporary housing options and financial assistance.
“This is what we do every day,” said Vic Howell, chief executive officer for the Red Cross. “People recognize us from events such as Katrina but we were at 450 house fires last year and expect to be at more this year,” he said.
Although the situation Tuesday wasn’t good, Chustz said it could have been much worse. “Whoever was in charge of the evacuation did a good job,” he said.