When a fire broke out at a Penn Hills apartment complex the evening of Jan. 21, Kelsey Matlock remembers grabbing the children.
“Us as adults can take care of our own, but it’s those babies — that whole first floor was nothing but children,” Ms. Matlock, 24, said in an interview at the Extended Stay Monroeville hotel, where she and other displaced residents are living temporarily. “I was grabbing people’s kids by their neck and just running with them.”
The blaze, which broke out at the Rodi Arms apartment complex shortly before midnight, was extinguished by firefighters before reigniting in the early hours of Jan. 22 and consuming the three-story building’s attic and top floors. There were no injuries.
But over a week later, Ms. Matlock and many of the building’s other 65 residents — including 10 children — are struggling to get back to normal. Some are scrambling to find new housing and keep up with their jobs, while also coping with traumatic memories of the blaze.
Ms. Matlock, who lived in apartment 206 with her fiance, said the fire broke out on her floor while she was just going to sleep.
“You heard ‘ba-boom,’ and then this big cloud came, and then black smoke came, and I couldn’t see nothing,” she said.
Looking for answers
Charles Miller, the Penn Hills fire marshal, said the blaze started when a man fell asleep while cooking.
After firefighters extinguished the blaze in the resident’s kitchen, a portion of fire remained in a void space behind the wall and spread into the attic, prompting crews to return.
In the past year, the building’s owner was twice issued a violation for having a faulty alarm system, though according to Mr. Miller, both times the issue was corrected. He added that the alarm company confirmed that the system was working at the time of the Jan. 21 blaze.
Still, residents were upset with the building’s preparedness for emergency.
For example, residents said the building had no sprinkler system. As a fire safety measure, sprinkler systems are required in Penn Hills for new construction projects, but the apartment complex was built before modern codes were written.
According to public records, the Rodi Arms building dates back to at least 1979, and was sold to Har Management, LLC in 2014.
The president of Har Management did not return a request for comment from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Rebuilding everything
Since the fire, the Western Pennsylvania Search and Rescue Development Center had been paying to house displaced residents at the Monroeville hotel until Sunday.
After that, residents say they feel pressure to find new housing in just a short time.
Ms. Matlock’s mother, Stacey Daugherty, 42, lived above her daughter on the apartment’s third floor along with her partner, Joseph Averiett Jr., 51.
Ms. Daugherty is the manager at a local Domino’s Pizza, where Mr. Averiett also works.
Sitting in their hotel room, the couple were among their last possessions — a couple pairs of shoes and a pile of donated clothing.
According to Ms. Daugherty, she’s wary of moving into another apartment complex after this. But while she figures out her and Mr. Averiett’s next living situation, she’s also expected to return to work.
Though she was expected to return to Domino’s last week, Ms. Daugherty has been given until Monday to return.
“They’re asking me, what are your plans, what should we do about the work?,” Ms. Daugherty said. “We can only cover for you for so long,” her employees told her.
Looking forward, she’s not sure if Domino’s will give her more time off, and whether that time will be paid.
“I still need to work, we still need to have an income,” Ms. Daugherty said. “But in the same sense, I still need time to find us a home.”
Items irreplaceable
At the Western Pennsylvania Search and Rescue Development Center in Penn Hills, volunteers have spent the week sifting through piles of clothing, food, furniture and toys. Those donations have steadily arrived from community members since the fire to help the residents of Rodi Arms rebuild their lives.
But according to residents, not all of their belongings can be replaced.
“All of the things that I had are my children’s,” said Stephanie Otlano, 34, whose four children ages 14, 13, 8 and 7 currently live in Philadelphia.
Ms. Otlano lived at the Rodi Arms apartments for just six months before the fire broke out.
“Pictures, things that they made me in kindergarten, Mother’s Day cards,” she said. “I had 75-inch TVs, a bar cabinet full of tons of liquor — and my main thing is my children’s stuff.”
“Even if it’s a macaroni noodle cardboard Mother’s Day gift, that was my valuables,” Ms. Otlano added. “That’s all I cared about. Everything else is materialistic, and I can replace that with no problem. But that stuff, I can never replace.”
For those looking to donate to the residents of the Rodi Arms apartment complex, the Western Pennsylvania Search and Rescue Development Center has provided information on its website. According to a spokesperson, the agency is also looking for volunteers at its donation center.
Jesse Bunch: jbunch@post-gazette.com
First Published: January 31, 2022, 3:31 p.m.
Updated: January 31, 2022, 3:42 p.m.
