WASHINGTON TWP. — A Centerville man said he was glad he woke up in time early Thursday to alert his neighbors to the fire that was destroying their apartment complex on Cambridge Station Road in Washington Twp.
>> EARLIER COVERAGE: Early morning fire at Washington Twp. apartments chases tenants
“I’m just glad I woke up because smoke could have come in and you know, I could have stayed asleep and not woken up,” Guess told News Center 7 Reporter Kayla McDermott on Thursday afternoon.
A building inspector said the cause was electrical. Firefighters were dispatched to the complex, in the 1000 block of Cambridge Station Road, about 5:30 a.m. on the report of a structure fire, where flames spread by jumping roof to roof.
“I started coughing real bad, could barely breathe, and had to get low. Smoke was building so bad,” he recalled. “...started banging on everybody’s doors.”
Guess, a school teacher, lived in the top unit that flames destroyed. He, just like his neighbors, lost everything either because of the flames or water damage.
“I lost everything. You know, all my lesson plans for the year is all my supplies and everything I have when we start school you know, less than two weeks. So it’s hard.
“I teach in Fairborn city schools and, you know, just getting back established near my family again, and yeah, so, yeah, it’s kind of a little emotional.”
He was able to find a little uplift in that his aunt told him his actions made her proud. He said he called her after he escaped.
No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
Everyone got out on their own or thanks to neighbors such as Guess.
“You just want to take care of people. That’s what we do, right?” he said.
All of the tenants have been told that management at the complex is putting them in new units.
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