‘Lucky’ couple starts over after Aberdeen apartment fire

Jan. 19--Lucky isn't a word many people would use to describe their lives after losing their apartment in a fire.

But both Chris Sejnoha, 21, and Michaela Smith, 20, have no doubt that's what they are.

"It was just ... how incredibly lucky," Sejnoha said.

Smith agreed: "It's crazy how lucky we've been."

The couple was enjoying a leisurely Sunday afternoon in their basement apartment at 1315 11th Ave. S.E. on Jan. 10 when Sejnoha smelled cigarette smoke. Initially, he thought the person who had been living next door -- and was partially moved out -- must have returned.

And if that wasn't the case, a lot of people who lived in the building were smokers, Smith said.

"So we didn't think much of it. But a minute later, everything started going down," she said.

They heard an upstairs neighbor, Ray Stewart, open the basement door, yell an expletive, then slam the door. The electricity went out, pipes burst, and it became abundantly clear that something was terribly wrong.

"I looked up at the ceiling tiles and saw smoke just rolling through them," Sejnoha said. "That was one of the most terrifying moments -- just seeing your room slowly fill up when there's not a single air hole."

Local hero

Stewart ran outside and began first pounding and then kicking the apartment's window in an effort to get the couple out.

Sejnoha, from Mitchell, and Smith, of Watertown, began to navigate their way toward the door.

"It was so scary trying to find the handle because it was completely black," Sejnoha said.

Once he and Smith were out, Stewart went back into the building, knocking on the doors of other tenants to tell them to evacuate.

"The fact that he went back upstairs to knock on doors and get people out ... He is just amazing," Smith said.

A second-floor tenant passed out before making it all the way down the stairs, Sejnoha said, and Stewart carried him out.

"So, in reality, he really did save somebody -- besides us," Sejnoha said.

Renter's insurance

Neither Sejnoha nor Smith thought they had renter's insurance. But because they are both under 26 and full-time students, they were individually covered under their parents' homeowner's insurance.

Now that they are moved into a new apartment, Sejnoha has invested in his own renter's insurance policy.

"It was so dumb not to do it before because it's really pretty cheap and so worth it," he said. "I'm going to be telling everyone I know to get renter's insurance because you don't even realize how much you might need it someday."

Because of the location of the apartment, Sejnoha and Smith said they are the only tenants who were able to re-enter the building to see if they had anything left. Smith said the inspector tried to go up on the first floor, but heard and felt the floor about to cave in with just his first step. Therefore, even if there is anything left, nothing from any first- or second-floor apartments is retrievable.

Although their apartment was next to the room where the fire started, the way the building was constructed meant the fire burned up -- in a V shape. Smith was able to find some dishes, pots and pans and some clothing.

The cat

Sejnoha and Smith had two cats. They were only able to get one into a pet carrier and out the door with them. When they returned to the apartment, Smith was sure they would find the second cat, Ena, "floating" in knee-deep water.

After all, smoke had filled the apartment and the fire department poured a large amount of water over the blaze. To top it off, the temperature outside was 14 below at the time of the fire.

Miraculously, Smith heard the "saddest" meow shortly after re-entering the apartment. Not only had the cat survived, but it was neither wet nor dirty and was in perfect health, according to the couple's veterinarian.

"I don't know how she did it, but she was such a resourceful little kitty," Sejnoha said.

"It's unreal sometimes. I look at that cat now and can't believe it's real and it's here."

Community support, more luck

After the fire, Sejnoha and Smith were cold and hungry. The couple said they don't usually go to the Millstone Family Restaurant, but it was late and the restaurant was still open.

"The waitresses were amazing," Smith said.

The servers pooled together and not only gave the couple a free meal, but also some extra money for future expenses and the phone numbers of organizations that could help out.

"It just really shows you how many people care about you," Smith said.

Both of the couple's employers, Target and Culver's, have been supportive. Sejnoha's co-workers at Culver's even collected funds for them.

The couple has moved into an apartment closer to Northern State University, where they are both business management majors. Smith's uncle donated some furniture to them.

A professor has loaned Smith a laptop for school. Because the spring semester had not began at the time of the fire, the couple had not yet purchased textbooks.

They both say their new landlord, Terry Severson, has been very helpful, going above and beyond to ensure they had a place to live. They didn't have quite enough money for both the security deposit and the first month's rent, and Severson was OK with that, they said. Severson also loaned them an Ozone machine, which has completely rid their salvaged clothes of the smoke smell.

"Out of everything," Sejnoha said, "it just urges us to want to pay it forward as well."

Official cause

Sejnoha and Smith said that before they left town for a stretch before the fire, a smoke alarm in the mechanical room had been beeping. When they returned, someone had knocked it down.

Aberdeen Fire Marshal Mike Thompson said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. It started behind the door of the basement mechanical room, which was in the first cavity south of the door, he said.

There were some clothes in the room, and a discarded cigarette might have caused the fire, he said.

Thompson said the building is not structurally sound or safe and it will need to come down.

Follow @vlusk_AAN on Twitter.

___

(c)2016 the American News (Aberdeen, S.D.)

Visit the American News (Aberdeen, S.D.) at www.aberdeennews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.