By Jake Batsell
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006 The Dallas Morning News
Gina Fries thought she’d already had her brush with bad luck at Eastfield Village.
Ms. Fries, 47, survived a fire more than a decade ago at the Far East Dallas apartment complex and moved to Mesquite. Three weeks ago, she moved back to Eastfield Village, figuring catastrophe couldn’t strike twice.
But Saturday morning, Ms. Fries once again found herself fleeing a smoky apartment.
“When they banged on the door and said, ‘The building’s on fire,’ I was like, déjà vu — it can’t be happening again,” she said. “Why did I move back here?”
Ms. Fries was among 109 people who awoke Sunday to an uncertain future after three apartment fires in eastern and northeastern Dallas forced them from their homes.
The fires occurred within hours of one another Saturday, but investigators do not believe they are related.
“It was just from one scene to the next to the next,” said Red Cross spokeswoman Anita Foster. “It was Groundhog Day all day.”
The Red Cross distributed about $13,000 to fire victims for short-term needs such as groceries and clothes, Ms. Foster said. Officials reported only a few minor injuries.
The first blaze started at 6:45 a.m. at Eastfield Village in the 8400 block of La Prada Drive.
That fire displaced about 25 people and caused an estimated $235,000 in damages.
Hours later, a fire forced 40 people from their homes and racked up $260,000 in damages at Ivanhoe Apartments in the 8900 block of Park Lane.
Then came the late-afternoon blaze at Northgate Village in the 12300 block of Plano Road. That fire displaced 44 people and caused $120,000 in damages.
All three fires remained under investigation Sunday. Dallas-Fire Rescue spokeswoman Annette Ponce said investigators will pursue leads this week while also investigating last week’s fire on Lower Greenville Avenue that destroyed the Arcadia theater.
“It’s going to be a busy week for fire investigators,” Ms. Ponce said.
The Red Cross set up a temporary shelter at Harry Stone Recreation Center, where Northgate Village resident Leon Ndanikure spent Sunday afternoon sifting through suitcases stuffed with his family’s belongings.
Mr. Ndanikure, a hotel housekeeper, said firefighters gave his family 20 minutes to gather whatever they could.
On Sunday, as his wife slept on a cot and his five children scurried playfully around the center’s basketball gym, Mr. Ndanikure said he felt fortunate. He’s seen much worse, having fled the violence in the central African nation of Burundi in 1994.
“This is nothing to me,” he said.
Ms. Fries, the two-time fire evacuee, spent Saturday night in a vacant apartment in the same Eastfield Village complex. She was unsure when she would be able to return to her apartment. Her belongings Sunday were limited to a change of clothes, a sleeping bag and her two Siamese cats.
One of those cats, Misty, was minutes from death Saturday but was located and saved by firefighters using thermal imaging. Ms. Fries, who is unemployed, said she hopes to take Misty in for veterinary care but does not know how she’ll pay for it.
“She’s been coughing up a lot of black stuff,” Ms. Fries said.