Fire destroys condos

Families salvaged personal effects from the burnt wreckage of four condominiums in the Oaklawn Park Town Homes at the 3300 block of Oaklawn Circle Sunday. Amongst the items recovered were family photos, stuffed animals and an embroidered wall hanging that read "Bless this house, oh lord we pray."\nThe condominiums -- four town houses sharing the same building -- caught fire Saturday afternoon. No one was injured in the blaze.\nKen Blackwell, proprietor of the multiple unit Oaklawn Park complex, was in a nearby building when he saw smoke emerging from the back of the adjacent building.\n"One guy had come out of the burning unit," Blackwell said. "There wasn't anyone in the other units. We (Blackwell and his brother) kicked the doors down. There had been a resident in one of the other units that had been evacuated."\nPerry-Clear Creek Fire Department Lt. Bob McWhorter said his men arrived shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday, and the fire had already spread to the building's attic area. McWhorter, who headed the fire's investigation, said the fire's origin was not yet official as of press time, but hypothesized on the cause.\n"The fire started on an enclosure on the back side of the home, or actually the complex," McWhorter said. "It was a small deck area. I believe there was a candle left on top of a small plastic table in that closed-in porch or deck area, and it was left unattended. It pretty much destroyed the center part of the complex. The two units in the center of that were basically destroyed." \nThe fire was hot enough to peel the paint and warp the headlight lenses of a car parked in front of the complex, but firemen chose to enter with hoses and fight the flames from the building's interior.\n"Inside the building the downstairs area was completely engulfed in flames along with the upstairs area and the roof," McWhorter said. "The flames had vented all the way through the front of the structure, out the windows, out the front door, through the roof."\nMcWhorter said the fire was fueled and spread by the wind and that it took help from three other fire departments, Bloomington City, Bloomington Township and Van Buren, to put the fire out. He said it took about an hour for the four departments to extinguish the flames.\nRed Cross Disaster Services representative Scott Hedrick was on sight Sunday seeing to the victims' needs. While no one was hurt in the fire, units 3356 and 3354 were completely gutted, 3352 was badly burned and 3350 was made unlivable by smoke and water damage. Hedrick said all residents were insured but the Red Cross was attending to the immediate needs of temporary shelter, food and personal effects. He was also helping residents to find permanent housing.\nBrady and DeeAnn Hanlon lived in apartment 3350 for exactly a year when their apartment burned. By Sunday, Brady said all his belongings were still "soaked." \nAll of his and his wife\'s clothing, much like the building's surrounding area, reeked of smoke. The couple was staying at a hotel until they could find a permanent residence.\nAshleigh Richmond was in Boston working as a surgical technician when her condo burned. Her mother, Venora Bishop, and step-father were amongst the families cleaning out the apartments Sunday. Bishop was at her 8-year-old's birthday party when she heard what was happening to her daughter's apartment.\n"You\'re just shocked," Bishop said. "You\'re just hoping it doesn't all burn down"