Fire damages business and apartments in South Bend, displaces 8 people before Christmas

Dec. 24--SOUTH BEND -- Melvin Davis woke up to a pounding on the door of his Miami Street apartment around midnight on Monday.

"Some guy was banging on the hallway shouting, 'Fire! Fire!,'" Davis recalled.

Davis, along with seven other residents living in the Miami Street Apartments above Harrison's Furniture and Treasures, made it out of the building safely, but are now displaced just days before Christmas.

"I didn't even hesitate, I grabbed the first two things I saw, which were my shoes and my coat ... and I just got the heck out of there," Davis said.

Fire crews were called shortly before midnight to Miami Street and East Indiana Avenue to find a first-floor business with four apartments on the second floor on fire, according to dispatch. Around 10 a.m. Monday, the wreckage of the fire bled into Miami Street as a crew started boarding up the building.

According to a news release from the South Bend Fire Department, fire crews found flames coming out of the display window on the ground floor of the building. Firefighters attempted an offensive strategy, but the fire spread, leading to an "extended operation."

The cause of the fire is under investigation and the building is being considered a total loss, according to the release.

Firefighters were recalled to the Miami Street address Monday evening, when the fire was rekindled.

Davis was back at his apartment Monday morning in the hopes of retrieving his phone and wallet from the burned building.

"I don't care about anything else, but, man, it would be a blessing if some stuff was still salvageable," Davis said.

Along with the eight residents, Davis said, three cats also made it out of the building safely -- a fact Davis attributes to the actions of a brave passerby.

"It was actually a passerby who came and (saw) the blaze," Davis said. "I don't know why they stopped, but they stopped. He said he kicked in this door and was just banging to alert everybody, which was probably a lifesaving thing."

The owner of the apartments, Ronald Koehler, said he does not have insurance for the apartments and has not yet seen the extent of the damage.

"I'm probably going to tear it down," Koehler said. "I think it's a total loss."

Koehler is the former owner of the Wooden Indian Motel on Lincoln Way East near Twyckenham Drive, which was purchased by Indiana University South Bend and demolished.

According to Koehler, the apartments had working smoke detectors and extinguishers. Davis said the shouts of the passerby woke him up and that he did not remember hearing a fire alarm.

Bob Harrison, the owner of Harrison's Furniture and Treasures, said he's operated his business on Miami Street since the 1990s. Due to the fire, Harrison said, he will likely have to permanently close the store.

"I've been there short of 27 years, where do I go to work tomorrow?" Harrison said. "I haven't had time to think, it happened too quick."

Green Star Cafe, which is connected to Harrison's, also suffered minor damage. According to the bar's co-owner John Bonk, the front door was broken and a pile of debris needs to be cleaned up in the rear of the business.

"We got lucky," Bonk said.

Davis, who had lived in the building for five months, said he's unsure about where he'll go next, but he's staying optimistic.

"I'll be OK," Davis said. "Red Cross gave us some funds, so I should be good for the next couple days. I'll be fine, I'll be fine."

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