Last year’s blaze ravaged Union Street, but students and others responded by donating more than $40,000.
Since watching her Union Street apartment burn for a hour last November, Alison Stewart’s priorities have shifted.
“It’s made me grateful for everything that I have,” Stewart said. “I was kind of materialistic and I think it taught me not to be as materialistic.”
The Union Street fire left Alison Stewart and 39 other Ohio University students homeless one year ago brought outreach from the OU and Athens community through the wreckage.
More than $40,000 was raised for to help the student victims of the Union Street fire, OU Spokeswoman Katie Quaranta said in an email. More than $22,000 was used to cover students’ hotel rooms, gift cards to Walmart and food and another $18,000 was distributed among the displaced students, Quaranta said in an email.
While escaping the fire, Stewart was able to rescue a couple personal belongings.
“I saw my camera and my computer just sitting there so I grabbed it, which was really lucky, but I didn’t grab my glasses or anything,” Stewart, a 2015 alumna with a degree in special education, said. “I don’t think I was thinking, I think it was pure luck that I could glance at them and grab them.”
Stewart said she got home to her apartment above Jack Neal Floral from her roommate’s birthday shuffle at four in the morning.
She said there weren’t any fire alarms, but her friend saw the fire.
“He called us and was like 'You need to get out right now,' ” Stewart said. “We got everybody else out in that building.”
Following the fire, Stewart — originally from Waynesville — stayed in Bromley Hall for two weeks. For second semester, she got a new apartment above Wendy’s on Court Street with the same roommate from West Union.
According to a previous Post report, OU offered students several items including a Walmart gift card, Bobcat cash and a free OHIO 20-block meal plan.
Stewart did not have insurance money, but said she has replaced many of the things she lost in the fire gradually over time.
“You never know what’s going to happen to anybody's wealth,” Stewart said.
In May, she walked during graduation. Currently, Stewart is doing her student teaching and she will be done in December.
Jenny Hall-Jones, interim vice president for student affairs and dean of students, said in an email she can’t believe it’s been a year since the fire.
A memory that has stuck with her was opening the doors to Baker and letting the students inside, she said in an email.
“Many students didn’t have shoes on, some had blankets they were huddling under and all of us were shocked,” Hall-Jones said in an email. “I was just so worried that people were hurt and kept asking them if all of their roommates were accounted for and if they had contacted their families.”
Another memory Hall-Jones recalls was the gathering in Baker Ballroom that afternoon where students and community members donated clothes, toiletries and food as volunteers organized the donations.
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There was a “collective sigh of relief” when John Paszke, the Athens city code director, announced all renters in all units had been accounted for and no one was hurt, Hall-Jones said in an email.
“When I took the microphone to thank everyone, I was overcome with emotion several times thinking about what could have been much more than a structural disaster, but a very personal one,” Hall-Jones said in an email. “We were very lucky that day, and I’m continually thankful for our community who pulls together and supports each other in times of crisis.”
@megankhenry
