SPEAK
BACKDRAFT ON FIRESIDE DRIVE
Finding the courage to hang on by David Heller
GREG GRIESENAUER
I awoke to a loud bang that shook my entire apartment. I peeked out my window and noticed a bunch of people running around screaming. At first, I thought, "It's the drunk NASCAR fans." Then I opened my bedroom door and discovered the source of the chaos: Except for my bedroom, my entire apartment was engulfed in flames.
Another five minutes passed. My face was covered in ash. The fire began to engulf my bedroom. Thankfully, someone pulled a white car as close to my building as he could. As my arms and hands began to numb, I worked up the courage to jump. Suddenly, a boiler exploded in the empty apartment next to mine. My heart jumped at the sound and sight of flames bursting through a window five feet away from my face. "Get out of the way, I'm jumping!" yelled.
Everything was on fire: my computer, my couch, the front door, the floor, the ceiling, the kitchen and even the bathroom right next to my bedroom. This scared the shit out of me so I slammed my bedroom door. On pure instinct, I raced to the only window in my third-story apartment, kicked out the screen and began to climb out."Fire! I yelled to the people below.
Five more minutes passed. Several residents of the Boardwalk Apartment Complex gathered beneath me and pleaded for me to keep holding on. They tried to free a ladder, which was chained to a streetlight, but they couldn't get it loose."Ok, guys," I yelled at my neighbors below."Someone go get a car and park it underneath me so I can jump, I can't take this anymore!
At this point, I had hung out my window for 20 minutes, 20 feet above the ground, wearing nothing but a T-shirt and boxers. I pressed my bare feet
Ten paralyzing minutes passed. My fingers began to blister and my eyes watered from the smoke and ash in my face. I could feel the heat from the flames. My neighbors directly below finally realized the building was on fire. They opened their window and saw my feet dangling. One of them panicked, and began to pull on my feet."Get him down here!" she said. "No," I yelled,"I'll fall back and break my neck!" I felt my grip losing its strength, but I managed to hold on, and she eventually let go of my feet.
I looked down and quickly realized it was too far for me to jump. The ground was at least 20 feet below. A few seconds later, I noticed smoke creeping under my bedroom door. The fire was close. My only option was to climb out the window, hang from the sharp metal edge of the windowsill and pray for someone to help me.
against the wall and kicked myself free from the burning building. I fell toward the earth and landed feet first, crushing the hood of the white car. I fell backwards off the car, but somebody caught me before my head hit the concrete.
My instinct made me run away from the raging inferno. I ran through the parking lot and off to the side lawn. The cold October wind froze me as I watched my building burn to the ground. All around me, neighbors, whom I knew only by face, cried, bled and embraced each other. Two bystanders, both KU students, were kind enough to lend me some sweatpants and a sweatshirt. When they asked me what happened, all I said was,"the smoke alarms never went off."
The 76-unit apartment building burned down from approximately 1:30
a. m. to 6 a.m. Friday, Oct. 7, 2005. Three people died and many others were injured, either from the flames and glass or from jumping out of their windows. I was the only person who jumped from the third floor who did not get hurt, and I feel extremely fortunate to have escaped the fire unharmed. You never know what you would do in a crisis situation. I kept my head together, remained as calm as I could and held on for as long as I needed. I just wish I knew the name of the guy whose car I landed on.
One thing this disaster taught me is to always listen to your family's advice. My brother, Michael, noticed that there were no adequate fire escapes on my floor and advised me to buy a portable ladder, but I never did. I wish I had actually taken the time and thought about an escape plan.
The building I lived in was not required to conform to current fire code laws because it was built in the 60s.
I lost everything I owned in the fire, but I feel damn lucky to be alive today. After the fire, I received an astonishing amount of support from my family, friends, the University of Kansas and random KU students. My mom drove from Manhattan to bring me some clothes. My good friend, Al Gard, let me crash at his apartment until I found a new place to live. I was touched by all the people, whom I didn't even know, who collected money for me and offered me places to crash. These people really cared about what happened to me, and I thank each of them for their support. Your friends, family and neighbors rally around you when you need them most.
02.16.2006 JAYPLAY
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