HOWARD (NBC 26) — As of Wednesday, all residents displaced by Tuesday's fire at Northern Pines Apartments in Howard have shelter, and most have been re-homed to other units within the complex, according to the Red Cross.
- Meet one man who was at Northern Pines Apartments when the fire broke out around 6 p.m. Tuesday
- Nobody was hurt in the fire
- Howard Fire Chief Dennis Staeven says this is the biggest fire the village has seen so far this year
- About a decade ago, a different building at the same apartment complex caught fire
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
The smell of ash hangs in the air at Northern Pines Apartments Wednesday. I'm your Howard neighborhood reporter Pari Apostolakos and I spoke to someone who was here during the biggest fire the village has seen this year.
Cade Hoffman and his girlfriend moved into the Northern Pines Apartments about a month ago.
"You wouldn't expect it ever happens to you," Hoffman said after getting assistance from the American Red Cross Wednesday.
Shortly after he got home from work Tuesday, Hoffman heard the fire alarm.
"I was like 'Is this a drill or something?' You know, it was loud," Hoffman said. "But I went and looked out the back patio door and I saw people standing outside, so I walked out there and looked to the right and there was smoke just billowing out of the apartment next door. So I grabbed the cats and ran out the front door."
Howard Fire Chief Dennis Staeven says crews got the fire under control within an hour but remained on the scene until around midnight.
About a decade ago, a different building on the Northern Pines Complex caught fire.
"The on-scene commander [Tuesday] was actually the one that ran that other fire about 11 years ago," Staeven said. "So he was very familiar with the construction and the fire walls which were going to help us contain the fire to the building of origin."
Staeven said the estimated cost of damage to the building is $750,000 and 12 apartments are now unlivable.
Executive Director Rebecca Rockhill from the Northeast Wisconsin Red Cross said most of the people who lost their homes are being moved to different apartments within the Northern Pines complex by apartment management.
"It is just great to see those individuals who were displaced having the community wrap their arms around them and really hopefully get them back to a sense of normalcy," Rockhill said.
Hoffman and his girlfriend can't return to their apartment and move into another one at Northern Pines Wednesday. Although some of their things were damaged by water used to put out the fire, he said that's not what matters.
"I had the cats and stuff so I was like the rest of the stuff is just material stuff," Hoffman said.
Chief Staeven said the cause of the fire might not be released for weeks. In Howard, Pari Apostolakos NBC 26.
Editor's note: an earlier version of this story stated all displaced residents had been re-homed to other units within the complex, according to the Red Cross. NBC 26 has since learned from the Red Cross that one resident is waiting on a unit to open up which fulfills her health needs.
