A month after a fire swept through a Boston Ave. home, the five Tufts students who rented an apartment in the building are still in the process of rebuilding their lives. The victims have received a great deal of support from the Tufts community, including the generation of $1,400 from a relief fund set up by Tufts' Catholic Center, but are still struggling to find time to deal with this tragedy.
The cause of the devastating fire that destroyed the apartment on Nov. 7 remains under investigation. The fire, which started at 4:30 p.m. and spread quickly through the walls and pipe chases of the old wooden structure, was gas-induced by a faulty boiler in the basement of their three-story apartment building. More details about the exact causes of the fire will be known when the report comes available.
Although there were no injuries in the fire, it left two local families and Tufts students Sean McDermott, Winder Holeman, Fernando Degwitz, Diana Uejbe, and their guest Estefania Elias homeless. The students lost 90 percent of their belongings, and the house was torn down shortly after the fire.
Tufts' Catholic Center has raised nearly $1,400 through contributions solicited at masses and from the community, and Father David O'Leary expects that number to grow. The students say that while they are impressed with the generosity of the community, they feel that the two families deserve it more than they do.
"I think it's great that everyone helped out," said McDermott. "I think it really shows a lot about the character of the community here."
McDermott is currently living with a friend off campus, and the others are staying in on campus residence halls. They are all planning on living together next semester, but the shortage of housing in the area has made the process of setting up arrangements difficult.
Getting their day-to-day lives back together has also been a struggle. Holeman said that most of the irritation has come from dealing with the insurance companies, which are investigating the cause of the fire to see if the landlord is liable. The students are also frustrated with the fact that the landlord has not communicated with them a great deal since the fire.
"He hasn't made an effort to contact us and in view of that attitude we are seeking legal council," said Uejbe. "We don't want to sue, we just want to settle... and make up for some of our losses."
Trying to keep up with classes, stay involved in student organizations, and sort out issues from the fire has been difficult for McDermott. He said that the fire department was very supportive, and they brought the students to the apartment to salvage any items that were not ruined. But, his hectic schedule has not yet permitted him to go and pick up the items from the fire department.
"Slowly things are getting back together," McDermott said. "But it's a big hassle, and a huge inconvenience to have to juggle putting your life back together and be a full-time student. We're all in the same boat."
McDermott has purchased some of the essentials that he needs to keep up his studies and live his life, such as a new computer, a few outfits, and shoes. However, to replace or get back the value of all the items lost is going to take a lot of time.
"I'm making a list of every thing I owned, from every fork to every pair of socks, to try and figure out how much [I lost]," McDermott said. "I have a spreadsheet going at home."
Holeman has also been focusing solely on getting through the semester without having the fire affect him academically. He has yet to purchase some of the larger items, such as his television, computer, and stereo system.
"My goal was just to finish the semester without [the fire] affecting my life or my grades that badly," he said. "And I feel like I've been able to do that with other people's help. All the teachers were very supportive and gave me extensions for papers."
In light of the issues of fire safety raised by this accident, Fire Marshall Perry Cayton advised students to thoroughly inspect housing for potential hazards.
"People should be checking to see if they have smoke detectors and have them serviced," he said. "For a lot of them this is the first time they've been put in a setting on their own."
For those who are interested in helping the victims, monetary donations can still be made though Tufts' Catholic Center at 58 Winthrop St. The Center plans on dividing the money from the fund evenly among the Boston Ave. students and the two families.
