Just as he and his family were lying down to sleep Monday night, Brad Dietrich heard loud fire alarms outside the door.
He and his girlfriend, Sarah Murdock, who have lived in their Hickory Hill Apartments unit in Brunswick since October, got up and looked through the keyhole in the door to find smoke in the hallway coming from the unit across from them.
That’s when they shut the door, picked up her 15-month-old son, Daniel, “got the car keys and left,” Dietrich said.
Brad Dietrich, 24, and his girlfriend. Sarah Murdock, 22, and Sarahs son, Daniel, 15 months, visit St. Ambrose Parish on Tuesday afternoon to accept donations. They were burned out of their home Monday night at Hickory Hill Apartments. (LAWRENCE PANTAGES / GAZETTE)
On Tuesday morning, the couple, accompanied by Dietrich’s mother, Susan Naff, took the first steps to rebuilding their life. Their apartment is believed to be a total loss.
Nearby on Pearl Road, St. Ambrose Parish opened its doors during the night shortly after hearing about the fire . The Rev. Rob Ramser, assistant pastor, said within 15 minutes of the fire starting, people started bringing in goods to be donated to anyone in need. Ramser attributed the fast response to the spread of the news on social media.
Donations were stacked on long tables in the parish’s family life center, categorized by size and type of clothing. There were dozens of pairs of shoes, bags of diapers, breakfast cereal and one table stacked high with stuffed animal toys.
And the contributions haven’t been solely from the parish’s 16,000 members, but non-members as well.
“It’s just overwhelming” how willing the community has been to help, Ramser said.
Naff said she was thankful how “unbelievably lucky” Dietrich and Murdock and Daniel were able to get out of the apartment safely, considering the fire started across the hall, and how quickly it spread in a few minutes.
“I got a call around 10:30 from Brad, asking, ‘What do I do?’ I told him to call 911, then I got in the car and went there. … The entire roof was engulfed,” Naff said.
Naff said she lives on Blueberry Hill Drive, just a short distance away. Naff said as soon as she pulled into the apartment complex and held Daniel, residents from other buildings came up to her asking if he needed water or extra clothing.
Dietrich and Murdock were among many others who sought food and basic necessities in the church’s family center.
Fire department officials said earlier Tuesday that the estimate was 50 to 60 people had been displaced by the blaze. American Red Cross representatives responded immediately with a variety of services.
At St. Ambrose, so many items were donated by lunchtime Tuesday that a partition wall was put up in the gymnasium. Dozens of volunteers were busy organizing food and clothing on one side of the partition while on the other side, still more volunteers put items on tables in an organized way to help people search for what they needed.
The Rev. Robert Stec estimated that more than 100 volunteers came to work in shifts.
The next step is to see what displaced residents need, and a list is expected to be compiled within two days.
Brunswick Mayor Ron Falconi said that while the circumstances are tragic, the community pulled together.
“The outpouring of support is humbling but not surprising,” he said after a news conference at Brunswick City Hall.
Dietrich said his last thought before leaving the apartment was to grab his car keys because the family had recently gotten a new vehicle and he didn’t want it to be affected by the blaze.
Although he said he knows that the apartment is a total loss, he is holding onto a “sliver of hope” that some things can be salvaged.
“The baby’s first-year mementoes could be all gone,” he said, remembering Daniel’s first birthday party and first haircut.
Dietrich, a graduate of Medina High School, said his family moved into Hickory Hill last October. He previously served four years in the U.S. Army, including being deployed to Afghanistan as a combat engineer.
Dietrich said his father, who lives in Chicago, immediately packed up his car in Illinois and started driving to Medina County to help the young family.
Online, various gofundme pages quickly were set up by loved ones for the displaced residents.
Stec said with so many food and clothing items contributed, the displaced residents also need gift cards and monetary donations. The church was accepting items at 929 Pearl Road, Brunswick.
Contact reporter Ashley Fox at (330) 721-4048 or afox@medina-gazette.com.
