Published: March 16, 2006 08:58 pm      

Student thanks those who care

EDMOND — Lightning may not strike the same place twice, but fire does occasionally break out twice in the same apartment complex.

Just ask Maya Johnson, a University of Central Oklahoma student who has lived in the Kennedy Place Apartments, 1010 Kennedy Ave., two years. Twice now, Johnson and her 6-year-old son DaJaun have escaped flames at the complex near the UCO campus.

“The first time, only our door was damaged,” Johnson said, referring to the Nov. 16 blaze that destroyed two units in the building.

On Feb. 17, though, Johnson wasn’t so lucky.

DaJaun was off at school that afternoon, and Johnson — who is pregnant with a second child — heard crackling sounds. When she opened the door to investigate, the fire was already too widespread for her to escape.

“It had already gotten in the ceiling and I didn’t know it,” she said. “I went to the window and screamed.”

Passers-by heard her cries and encouraged her to try to escape. She tied bedsheets together and prepared to make the descent, but neighbors found a ladder and held it in place for her to climb down.

Johnson was treated at the emergency room for minor injuries.

“The whole apartment was destroyed, though,” she said. “It started in the apartment adjacent to mine, and I lost everything.”

Johnson and her son stayed a few days with family members in other parts of the metro area, but relief was on the way.

“UCO pulled together apartments for all the students in the fire — at least five or six of us,” she said. “They put us up in the Broncho Apartments at East Wayne and Chowning, and everything is totally free until the old apartments are ready.”

A spokesperson for Kennedy Place Apartments and Townhomes said vacant apartments were available in the complex for all the people displaced by the fire, but some tenants chose to move to other locations.

Kathryn Williams, professor of sociology and criminal justice at UCO, helped organize the effort at the university.

“Maya was a student of mine a couple of semesters ago,” Williams said. “It just broke my heart thinking of a pregnant woman trying to get out through the window.”

Williams said she’s lining up clubs and organizations on campus to help with the donation effort.

“This is just another example of UCO giving back to the community,” she said. “UCO has community, character and civility as three of the qualities outlined in our mission statement. We really do take our commitment to students and the community seriously.”

DaJaun is a student at Northern Hills Elementary School, and faculty members and students also worked together to help the family.

Carolyn Thomas, guidance counselor at Northern Hills, spearheaded the effort to help the Johnson family after the fire, sending notes home in students’ backpacks asking for assistance.

“Kids showed up with all kinds of things — brand-new things, mind you,” Thomas said. “Sheets, towels, bedspreads, lamps, kitchen things, just all kinds of creative things.”

Johnson said she’s thankful for the help offered to her by UCO, Northern Hills and by other Edmond residents.

“That’s what I mean by community,” she said. “I just want to say I’m really grateful for all the support and encouragement in this situation. We’ve been overwhelmed by the love we’ve experienced.”

Many people who donated items to the family were strangers who read about the fire in the newspaper, she said.

The experience taught Johnson and the other residents a lesson, too, she said.

“I’ll be prepared next time. I didn’t have any rental insurance. None of the students did. But we’ll have to try to put enough funds aside to do that now.”

In spite of her harrowing experiences, Johnson said she wants to encourage others who have been through difficulties.

“People out there really do care about you. These are mostly strangers who reached out to me,” she said. “I just want people to know I really appreciate them. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

The spokesperson from Kennedy Place Apartments said it’s not known when rebuilding will be complete at the site.

Fire Prevention Chief Tim Wheeler said so far investigations show that both fires were accidental.

(Alice Collinsworth may be reached via e-mail at acollinsworth@edmondsun.com.)