By Tim Stevens
The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
RALEIGH, N.C. — Two-time Olympic medalist Michelle Burgher was happy to find her bronze medal amid the ashes of her home at the Trestles Apartments in Raleigh on Sunday.
Burgher found the medal, the keys to her car and her cell phone. Her silver medal from the Sydney Olympics in 2000 was in her car.
She lost almost everything else when the fire engulfed the second-floor apartment she shared with fellow Jamaican athlete Kurt Duncan.
“But we’re alive,” said Burgher, a medalist as a member of the Jamaican 4x400 relay team.
“I’m trying to not think about it, all the stuff that can’t be replaced. The articles. The memorabilia. The awards.
“If I think about it, I cry.”
The couple has lived in Raleigh for 2 1/2 years to train with famed St. Augustine’s College track and field coach George Williams.
Around 5 a.m. Sunday, Burgher was awakened by noises and saw a man and women running from the complex. Duncan went to the front door to investigate, and smoke rolled into the room when the door was opened.
He screamed for Burgher to get out. The couple ducked low to avoid the bulk of the smoke and ran barefoot to the road.
“There was smoke; we could feel the heat of the fire,” she said. “We ran as fast as we could.”
Seconds later, they saw the flames inside their apartment.
They stood in the cold — he in a pair of shorts and she in a T-shirt and sweat pants — as the apartment burned.
Neighbors gave them some clothes, and the Red Cross has provided them with a room for a few nights.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Burgher said. “I’m trying to be optimistic.”
The couple has no insurance.
Williams said he was sure the track community would rally around the couple.
The coach said he has some clothing he can give them, but the situation is complicated because Williams’ gear came from Nike. The Jamaican Olympic team wears Puma.
“It sounds strange, but we have to make sure they can wear the Nike clothes,” Williams said.
Williams said that before the fire Burgher was a sure bet to make the Jamaican team and compete in the Beijing Olympics this summer.
The former Clemson runner helped Jamaica’s 4x400 relay to the silver medal in Sydney in 2000 and the bronze in 2004.
“This has to affect her training, but she is so talented,” Williams said.
“This is a tragedy for them. They are a couple of athletes training for the Olympics. They don’t have much money.
“Now they have no furniture. No clothes. No home.”
Burgher said friends already have offered to help, but she hasn’t had time to process everything that needs to be done.
“The biggest thing I’m concentrating on is that we’re OK,” she said. “All the stuff is gone, but we’re fine.”
A Raleigh Fire Department spokesman said a burning pot on the stove caused the blaze.
Copyright 2008 The News and Observer