Fire victims move to new homes
Exhausted Heritage Apartments residents, local Red Cross volunteers and nuns and maintenance workers from Mount St. Macrina breathed a sigh of relief at about 8 p.m. Friday as the temporary fire victim’s shelter was officially closed down. John Lingo, director of the Red Cross office in Uniontown, said the work of moving the 14 homeless senior citizens began at 7:45 a.m. Friday and didn’t end until 12 hours later.
“What a nightmare,” said Lingo. “Some of the elderly residents sat in the lobby of the Heritage Apartments for hours waiting for paperwork to be completed and their apartments to be ready in Poplar Lane Court and Meadow Heights.”
The senior citizens lived at the Heritage Apartments until early last Sunday, when a fire forced them to evacuate the five-story, high-rise on Main Street in Uniontown.
While 20 of the 34 residents in the building were able to find shelter with friends or family, 14 people had to be placed at Mount St. Macrina in North Union Township. Originally, the residents thought they would only stay there overnight, but they were forced to remain there for almost a week until proper housing could be found for them.
Lingo said the Red Cross received word at about 2 p.m. Friday that new carpet was being installed at Poplar Lane Court and that the residents would not be allowed to move in until the workers were finished.
Lingo said, “It would have been nice if they would have said something before we sent those people over to the Heritage Apartments. Thank goodness that food was brought in by Heritage workers for those people or they wouldn’t have had anything to eat.”
Earl Bugaile, director of community relations for the Presbyterian Senior Care Network, managers of the Heritage Apartments, said it would be between three and six months before residents will be able to return to the Heritage.
“We have extensive smoke, water and fire damage in the third-floor hallway,” said Bugaile. “It’s going to take some time to repair all of this.”
Bugaile also said that most likely a sprinkler system would be installed in the building when repairs are made.
“Since Presbyterian Senior Care Network only manages the apartment complex I didn’t know that there wasn’t a sprinkler system in this building,” said Bugaile.
According to Bugaile, the Uniontown Senior Housing LTD owns the facility, which was opened in 1995.
Lingo said the Uniontown Food Bank made up 34 starter boxes of food for the residents that were taken to Mount St. Macrina to make sure that the residents got them.
Knouse said that her agency wants to replace cleaning and paper products at Mt. St. Macrina and asked that the public donate paper plates, plastic forks, spoons and knives, napkins and anything else they can spare.
Of the 14 Heritage residents, Lingo said Julia Zoldak, Linda Riggins, Helen Herring, Alice Perrine and Hazel Hassinger were taken to Meadow Heights, located on Beeson Street in Uniontown. He added that Ann Brownfield, Edith King, Clinton and Anna Weinbrenner and Ruth and Jack Wensing are all at Poplar Lane Court at 110 Salem Rd.
Tony and Jane Cuzzupe are in temporary housing waiting for their new apartment and 96-year-old Mary Priselac will be moving to an assisted living facility in Washington Pa.
Lingo said all of the residents would be given the option of moving back into the Heritage Apartments once repairs are completed.
He also said that the Red Cross has taken care of the change of address cards for the senior citizens.
“We are so lucky to have such good volunteers,” said Lingo. “However, we do have one more request to make. If any hairdressers out there would like to volunteer their services we would really appreciate it. We can take care of the transportation to get the women there.”
Lingo said hairdressers can call him at 724-438-2567 beginning Monday morning.