Jeff stopped at Ikea on Sunday morning, we finally sold our old futon, and brought the extra coffee tables to Jeff's parents (for now, at least), so our apartment has an updated look!
Showing posts with label Apartment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apartment. Show all posts
Monday, April 25, 2011
Coffee Tables
Jeff and I are trying to decide whether to keep the new black, Ikea coffee table we bought recently, or whether we should go back to the old glass table that we had in our old apartment. Still up in the air...
Clothes are Back!
Our clothes from our old apartment just got back from the cleaners on Tuesday, so that marks the very last of the things left from the fire! Now our closets are full of clothes we need to go through... one more project before we're all squared away (until our apartment is re-done and we move back...)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Apartment Update: We got our stuff back... and then got rid of (most of) it!
Last week Jeff and I got access to the things in our old apartment. We brought down all sorts of plastic bags and boxes full of our old things. Our apartment was really messy.
It's crazy to think that we haven't had these things for five months. We've basically adjusted to living without them. Some things - like our pens, scissors, and post-its got organized and put away in the desk. Other things - like almost all of our old dishes and pots and pans - we decided to give away to Goodwill.
It took quite a few days, but by this morning our apartment was looking nice again! And since we had our drill back, we could even hang the photos we'd gotten framed! (All of the photos are ones we took - except for the one of the two of us, which my mom took.)
Top row (left to right): A gateway on an island on Lake Titicaca, Peru; the Charles bridge in Prague; Boston Public Garden; Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis; and Lake Titicaca, Peru.
Bottom row (left to right): Jeff and I in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden; a city street in Seoul, Korea; Some castle ruins in Ireland; Beach in Honduras; and old buildings reflected in glass in Prague
Today Jeff went in and got our old furniture and brought it down - and pretty much all of that is up on craigslist now, since we replaced basically all of our major furniture over the past five years. Once we get all of that taken away, it will just be odds and ends left! (And hopefully someday soon we'll get our clothes back and we'll have closets with more than five items of clothing...)
It's crazy to think that we haven't had these things for five months. We've basically adjusted to living without them. Some things - like our pens, scissors, and post-its got organized and put away in the desk. Other things - like almost all of our old dishes and pots and pans - we decided to give away to Goodwill.
It took quite a few days, but by this morning our apartment was looking nice again! And since we had our drill back, we could even hang the photos we'd gotten framed! (All of the photos are ones we took - except for the one of the two of us, which my mom took.)
Bottom row (left to right): Jeff and I in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden; a city street in Seoul, Korea; Some castle ruins in Ireland; Beach in Honduras; and old buildings reflected in glass in Prague
Today Jeff went in and got our old furniture and brought it down - and pretty much all of that is up on craigslist now, since we replaced basically all of our major furniture over the past five years. Once we get all of that taken away, it will just be odds and ends left! (And hopefully someday soon we'll get our clothes back and we'll have closets with more than five items of clothing...)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Empty Closets
Yesterday, Jeff and I packed up all of our clothes - except a few things we just bought on the weekend and one or two essential items (like jeans and workout clothes), and sent them off in giant plastic bags to be professionally cleaned, along with all of the other clothes from our apartment. Our closets now look like no one really lives here (again).
I'm actually really excited about this process, because I think it will be fun to get a whole closet-sized delivery of nice, freshly dry-cleaned clothes. Then I want to go through all of them and do a somewhat ruthless cutting process, so I only keep the clothes I really like and actually wear. And for Jeff, we're just going to get rid of all the XL (and maybe even L) clothes that aren't even close to fitting him anymore, so he'll actually have a collection of clothes that fit him and look nice!
I'm actually really excited about this process, because I think it will be fun to get a whole closet-sized delivery of nice, freshly dry-cleaned clothes. Then I want to go through all of them and do a somewhat ruthless cutting process, so I only keep the clothes I really like and actually wear. And for Jeff, we're just going to get rid of all the XL (and maybe even L) clothes that aren't even close to fitting him anymore, so he'll actually have a collection of clothes that fit him and look nice!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Apartment is (almost) fully furnished!
Jeff made an Ikea trip today, and picked up another futon and a coffee table for the apartment. With the addition of these pieces of furniture, I think we're about 90% furnished. We need end tables, some shelves, accent pillows, and some decorations on the walls, and we'll be all set!
Here's what it looks like for now!
Here's what it looks like for now!
Apartment Update: Phone Call with Asbestos Expert/ Environmentalist
Our apartment management gave us the phone number for the environmentalist that they have leading the cleaning of the asbestos in the apartment, and Jeff and I had a long talk on the phone with him, which actually made me feel much better about the whole thing. We'll still get our clothes professionally cleaned and wipe everything down, but it was nice to get a full explanation from an expert. Here is some of what we learned.
We asked Mark (the expert) about the risk of contamination of whole apartment from having brought in items from our old apartment. He said that the risk is really pretty low. He explained that the building had asbestos fire-proofing around the kitchen and bath ducting in the walls, which was hit with axes by the fire department in the unit that was on fire, which allowed the asbestos to become airborn and travel in the smoke and heat. There is also three percent asbestos in the popcorn ceiling which was roasted by the fire and got loose. After the fire they did testing in the unit where the fire was and in the hallway, and then they did abatement (cleaning) in those areas to get rid of all the asbestos. Then they checked in every apartment on the ninth floor - by that time, the dust had settled, so they used box fans to get the dust back in the air, and then did air sampling.
In apartment 902 (our apartment) they found one asbestos fiber in all of the air sampling that they did. That's equivalent to 15 fibers per cubic centimeter. As a comparison, the EPA standard for schools (after asbestos abatement has been completed) is 70 fibers per cubic cm. So at a level of 15 fibers per cubic centimeter there is actually no legal action required. (And Mark said that if you took samples on the street, you'd probably find comparable levels, just from the breaks on people's cars falling apart and things like that.)
They tested other apartments around the building and found zero asbestos fibers - meaning that the background level in the building is actually zero normally. So Mark made the argument that all of the ninth floor apartments should be brought back down to a zero level as well. He said it's really a precautionary measure to help avoid legal action and ensure people are completely comfortable. They're just not allowing anything above zero as a final result. He said they'd be happy to do testing in our current apartment, though he doesn't think it's necessary and wouldn't recommend it - but if we're feeling nervous and would like to do it, we should let him know. (I think we probably won't bother.) He also said that he's written a series of about 15 memos throughout the process of the cleaning, which our management has, and which have been submitted to Joe Parish at the DDOE, so we could access those if we wanted to see more information about the whole process.
We also asked him what we need to do to make sure hard surfaces (computer, books, jewelry, etc.) that we got out are clean. He said the only problem with asbestos is it getting airborn. If there is no visible dust, then its find. Otherwise just spray it with windex and wipe it down, and then throw away the paper towel.
We also asked how to clean items that are hard and soft (like suitcase). He said the levels are so low that it really probably doesn't need to be cleaned, but if we want, we can give those things to our management and have them vacuumed with the special asbestos-cleaning vacuum, which has a special particulate filter so the asbestos won't go through bag.
So that's it - sounds like everything is really ok, so that's great!
We asked Mark (the expert) about the risk of contamination of whole apartment from having brought in items from our old apartment. He said that the risk is really pretty low. He explained that the building had asbestos fire-proofing around the kitchen and bath ducting in the walls, which was hit with axes by the fire department in the unit that was on fire, which allowed the asbestos to become airborn and travel in the smoke and heat. There is also three percent asbestos in the popcorn ceiling which was roasted by the fire and got loose. After the fire they did testing in the unit where the fire was and in the hallway, and then they did abatement (cleaning) in those areas to get rid of all the asbestos. Then they checked in every apartment on the ninth floor - by that time, the dust had settled, so they used box fans to get the dust back in the air, and then did air sampling.
In apartment 902 (our apartment) they found one asbestos fiber in all of the air sampling that they did. That's equivalent to 15 fibers per cubic centimeter. As a comparison, the EPA standard for schools (after asbestos abatement has been completed) is 70 fibers per cubic cm. So at a level of 15 fibers per cubic centimeter there is actually no legal action required. (And Mark said that if you took samples on the street, you'd probably find comparable levels, just from the breaks on people's cars falling apart and things like that.)
They tested other apartments around the building and found zero asbestos fibers - meaning that the background level in the building is actually zero normally. So Mark made the argument that all of the ninth floor apartments should be brought back down to a zero level as well. He said it's really a precautionary measure to help avoid legal action and ensure people are completely comfortable. They're just not allowing anything above zero as a final result. He said they'd be happy to do testing in our current apartment, though he doesn't think it's necessary and wouldn't recommend it - but if we're feeling nervous and would like to do it, we should let him know. (I think we probably won't bother.) He also said that he's written a series of about 15 memos throughout the process of the cleaning, which our management has, and which have been submitted to Joe Parish at the DDOE, so we could access those if we wanted to see more information about the whole process.
We also asked him what we need to do to make sure hard surfaces (computer, books, jewelry, etc.) that we got out are clean. He said the only problem with asbestos is it getting airborn. If there is no visible dust, then its find. Otherwise just spray it with windex and wipe it down, and then throw away the paper towel.
We also asked how to clean items that are hard and soft (like suitcase). He said the levels are so low that it really probably doesn't need to be cleaned, but if we want, we can give those things to our management and have them vacuumed with the special asbestos-cleaning vacuum, which has a special particulate filter so the asbestos won't go through bag.
So that's it - sounds like everything is really ok, so that's great!
Apartment Update: Asbestos Cleaning
Another update on what's going on with our old apartment, which still has most of our stuff...
The short version of the story is that the apartment building is going to pay to have the apartment cleaned and to send all of the clothes and other soft items to get professionally cleaned to remove asbestos. They're also going to pick up the clothes that they had given us from our apartment earlier and have those professionally cleaned as well. So we'll be completely without our wardrobe for a while again (We're planning to do a mini-shopping spree for Jeff, who needs clothes that fit him anyway, and Stephanie offered to lend me a few things to get me through the cleaning time.) But by late March we should have all of our clothes (from both apartments) back. They're wiping down things with hard surfaces to clean them, though it's not clear what's going to happen to mixed-items, like our old futon or suitcases - or what it means for things like boxes of papers. So still a few mysteries to find out...
And here's the long version of the story:
Ten days ago, we got this email from the apartment management:
Our abatement/cleaning process began today, Tuesday, February 22nd. This process will also include some repairs/replacements of ceilings as deemed necessary to your apartment home. We expect that the repairs will take approximately two and one-half weeks to complete. Once the abatement has been completed, your apartment will be cleaned and another clearance test will be performed to ensure that all contamination has been eliminated. This process will include cleaning all hard surfaces, framed pictures, etc. Soft materials will be double bagged in clear plastic and left inside your apartment. You will be notified when this process has been completed. We anticipate that it will be on or before March 18th. You will be advised of the date you may access your apartment. In the event that you do not want to keep anything a release must be signed authorizing us to dispose of these items on your behalf. Those items which will be bagged are contaminated, therefore all of these items must be cleaned by a dry cleaners who specializes in fire restoration and asbestos removal in clothing and other soft items.
For those of you who have Apartment Renter’s Insurance you will be advised of when you may contact your agent(s) and advise them of our anticipated access date so that they can schedule their visit to your apartment. They should contact me by email to obtain access.
For those of you who do not have Apartment Renter’s Insurance, it has been decided that Management will absorb the cleaning costs for your clothing. We have located a qualified dry cleaners to handle this cleaning process.
Thank you for your patience in this matter.
Jeff and I were a little worried about what this meant for the things that Niyi had gotten out of our apartment shortly after the fire (remember that list of 10 things?). So we investigated. Here's some of what Jeff found (this was an email to his parents - who are both doctors - asking their opinion:
One thing that Mariel and I are concerned about is that they deem that this is enough asbestos that all of our stuff is being bagged and treated as hazardous, while we just took all our other stuff.
Then, we washed whatever clothing from there with whatever new clothing that we have, so everything might be contaminated. We were thinking that we'd ask them to clean all the stuff that we have too. I wanted to get you guys' ideas on how dangerous you think this is for us.
I was trying to figure this out online. This study: http://www.mesothelioma.com/treatment/research/etiological-studies/multicentric-study-on-malignant-pleural-mesothelioma-and-non-occupational-exposure-to-asbestos.htm makes me think it's not horrible. Occupational risks like cleaning people's contaminated clothes seem to increase your chances of mesothelioma by like a factor of 5. I feel like wearing some of these contaminated clothes for a while is probably a bit lower risk than that. Also, I feel like our baseline chances of mesothelioma are very low, so a 5x increase might be fairly minor. The risk of mesothelioma is like 15/million/year in the US, but that includes still a lot of people who were exposed before asbestos stopped being used in many things, and presumably a lot of people who have higher occupational exposure than we do. And even at 15/million/year, over 30 years that's the same risk as driving 50,000 miles. So it's a risk but not a super giant one.
But we would like your opinion about the risks here: are we underestimating them? Are there other important diseases that we'd get?
Jeff's Mom and Dad wrote back and said they think there is probably not much need to worry, but they'd recommend either professionally cleaning or throwing away the things we got out of old apartment before, just to have peace of mind. Here's what Jeff's Mom said:
I basically agree with your risk assessment (i.e., basically no risk up to now). My recommendation is: For permanent peace of mind, clean/ditch everything. Here are specific thoughts.
When they talk about mesothelioma from washing contaminated clothes, they are talking about wives of men with serious chronic (ongoing) exposure to asbestosis. Those guys came home with newly (and seriously) contaminated work clothes every day for years.
You washed your washable clothes several times before wearing them, which can only help, so I wouldn’t worry about exposure up to now. That said, if there is still a small amount of asbestos on them, there is still the chance of continuing exposure, so for peace of mind I suggest sending favorites to the expensive cleaners and ditching the rest. This eliminates any future exposure, if asbestos fibers are still on them. Also, only the expensive cleaners will get the smoke smell out of nonwashables.
So then we wrote this email to the apartment management:
Thanks for the update!
And we got this response:
Good Morning: I receive confirmation that you may put the soft items (clothes, pillows,) etc in a clear plastic bag and give them to Carlos. He will then place them in your old apartment for pickup and cleaning along with any other items. I will see if we can get you the bags today and place them inside your current apartment. We need to have them back as soon as possible as I will have to tell the cleaning company how many bags we have. Thank you.
So now that's the plan. She also gave us the phone number of the environmentalist/ cleaner that they're working with, so we can give him a call and discuss any concerns with him. So that will be my next update.
The short version of the story is that the apartment building is going to pay to have the apartment cleaned and to send all of the clothes and other soft items to get professionally cleaned to remove asbestos. They're also going to pick up the clothes that they had given us from our apartment earlier and have those professionally cleaned as well. So we'll be completely without our wardrobe for a while again (We're planning to do a mini-shopping spree for Jeff, who needs clothes that fit him anyway, and Stephanie offered to lend me a few things to get me through the cleaning time.) But by late March we should have all of our clothes (from both apartments) back. They're wiping down things with hard surfaces to clean them, though it's not clear what's going to happen to mixed-items, like our old futon or suitcases - or what it means for things like boxes of papers. So still a few mysteries to find out...
And here's the long version of the story:
Ten days ago, we got this email from the apartment management:
Our abatement/cleaning process began today, Tuesday, February 22nd. This process will also include some repairs/replacements of ceilings as deemed necessary to your apartment home. We expect that the repairs will take approximately two and one-half weeks to complete. Once the abatement has been completed, your apartment will be cleaned and another clearance test will be performed to ensure that all contamination has been eliminated. This process will include cleaning all hard surfaces, framed pictures, etc. Soft materials will be double bagged in clear plastic and left inside your apartment. You will be notified when this process has been completed. We anticipate that it will be on or before March 18th. You will be advised of the date you may access your apartment. In the event that you do not want to keep anything a release must be signed authorizing us to dispose of these items on your behalf. Those items which will be bagged are contaminated, therefore all of these items must be cleaned by a dry cleaners who specializes in fire restoration and asbestos removal in clothing and other soft items.
For those of you who have Apartment Renter’s Insurance you will be advised of when you may contact your agent(s) and advise them of our anticipated access date so that they can schedule their visit to your apartment. They should contact me by email to obtain access.
For those of you who do not have Apartment Renter’s Insurance, it has been decided that Management will absorb the cleaning costs for your clothing. We have located a qualified dry cleaners to handle this cleaning process.
Thank you for your patience in this matter.
Jeff and I were a little worried about what this meant for the things that Niyi had gotten out of our apartment shortly after the fire (remember that list of 10 things?). So we investigated. Here's some of what Jeff found (this was an email to his parents - who are both doctors - asking their opinion:
One thing that Mariel and I are concerned about is that they deem that this is enough asbestos that all of our stuff is being bagged and treated as hazardous, while we just took all our other stuff.
Then, we washed whatever clothing from there with whatever new clothing that we have, so everything might be contaminated. We were thinking that we'd ask them to clean all the stuff that we have too. I wanted to get you guys' ideas on how dangerous you think this is for us.
I was trying to figure this out online. This study: http://www.mesothelioma.com/treatment/research/etiological-studies/multicentric-study-on-malignant-pleural-mesothelioma-and-non-occupational-exposure-to-asbestos.htm makes me think it's not horrible. Occupational risks like cleaning people's contaminated clothes seem to increase your chances of mesothelioma by like a factor of 5. I feel like wearing some of these contaminated clothes for a while is probably a bit lower risk than that. Also, I feel like our baseline chances of mesothelioma are very low, so a 5x increase might be fairly minor. The risk of mesothelioma is like 15/million/year in the US, but that includes still a lot of people who were exposed before asbestos stopped being used in many things, and presumably a lot of people who have higher occupational exposure than we do. And even at 15/million/year, over 30 years that's the same risk as driving 50,000 miles. So it's a risk but not a super giant one.
But we would like your opinion about the risks here: are we underestimating them? Are there other important diseases that we'd get?
Jeff's Mom and Dad wrote back and said they think there is probably not much need to worry, but they'd recommend either professionally cleaning or throwing away the things we got out of old apartment before, just to have peace of mind. Here's what Jeff's Mom said:
I basically agree with your risk assessment (i.e., basically no risk up to now). My recommendation is: For permanent peace of mind, clean/ditch everything. Here are specific thoughts.
When they talk about mesothelioma from washing contaminated clothes, they are talking about wives of men with serious chronic (ongoing) exposure to asbestosis. Those guys came home with newly (and seriously) contaminated work clothes every day for years.
You washed your washable clothes several times before wearing them, which can only help, so I wouldn’t worry about exposure up to now. That said, if there is still a small amount of asbestos on them, there is still the chance of continuing exposure, so for peace of mind I suggest sending favorites to the expensive cleaners and ditching the rest. This eliminates any future exposure, if asbestos fibers are still on them. Also, only the expensive cleaners will get the smoke smell out of nonwashables.
So then we wrote this email to the apartment management:
Thanks for the update!
Shortly after the fire, Niyi brought us some of our clothing and other belongings from the apartment. We have been using and living with these things since the fire. We appreciated the gesture at the time, but now that we know that the items in our apartment are contaminated with asbestos and see the measures that are being taken to deal with it, we are concerned. We would like to return the clothing and other items that were removed from the apartment to be cleaned along with the other things that are still in our apartment.
Please let us know the best way to get these items to you, and when you expect they could be cleaned and returned. Also, we would appreciate it if you could ask the asbestos experts if there is any danger that our new apartment has been contaminated due to the exposure to these un-cleaned items from our old apartment.
Good Morning: I receive confirmation that you may put the soft items (clothes, pillows,) etc in a clear plastic bag and give them to Carlos. He will then place them in your old apartment for pickup and cleaning along with any other items. I will see if we can get you the bags today and place them inside your current apartment. We need to have them back as soon as possible as I will have to tell the cleaning company how many bags we have. Thank you.
So now that's the plan. She also gave us the phone number of the environmentalist/ cleaner that they're working with, so we can give him a call and discuss any concerns with him. So that will be my next update.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Apartment Update: Asbestos Found
Jeff got a call on January 14th from a woman with Borger Management. They found one "structure" of asbestos in our apartment when they did testing, and so they were going to try to clean it the following week and retest. As of yesterday, they're still not done with the cleaning process, so no real news yet on whether we can get back in or get our stuff back.
The news makes me worry a bit about the things we did get out of the apartment already - computers, clothes, etc. - We washed all of the clothes - is that enough to get rid of asbestos?
The news makes me worry a bit about the things we did get out of the apartment already - computers, clothes, etc. - We washed all of the clothes - is that enough to get rid of asbestos?
Monday, January 10, 2011
Ikea Trip!
Over the weekend Jeff and I made two trips to Ikea to make our apartment feel a little more like home. We bought a fair amount of new furniture, since it's going to be another month before we even know whether our stuff might be ok, plus some of the stuff was probably ready to be replaced anyway, and on top of that, the new apartment has a slightly different layout, so some of the old stuff wouldn't work.
We have a new kitchen table and chairs, a new kitchen sideboard table, a new desk, a new shelf/ TV table, and a new futon. We are hoping to get our other futon back eventually, and we have some wall decorating to do eventually, but it's definitely looking much more like home!
We have a new kitchen table and chairs, a new kitchen sideboard table, a new desk, a new shelf/ TV table, and a new futon. We are hoping to get our other futon back eventually, and we have some wall decorating to do eventually, but it's definitely looking much more like home!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
New Apartment!
Jeff and I finally moved into our new apartment - we're in a different unit in the same building. It's really similar to the other apartment, but the layout is slightly different.
Jeff's parents dropped some things off before we got here, and we had ordered an air mattress, so there are a few sparse furnishings, and some kitchen and bathroom essentials.
We're planning to go shopping for furniture soon. It's going to be a few weeks before we'll have access to our old stuff, and even then we don't know if it will be usable or if it will need expensive cleaning. Given that and the fact that the layout is a bit different, we've decided it's probably a good idea to get some new things to make this apartment feel a bit more like home.
Jeff's parents dropped some things off before we got here, and we had ordered an air mattress, so there are a few sparse furnishings, and some kitchen and bathroom essentials.
We're planning to go shopping for furniture soon. It's going to be a few weeks before we'll have access to our old stuff, and even then we don't know if it will be usable or if it will need expensive cleaning. Given that and the fact that the layout is a bit different, we've decided it's probably a good idea to get some new things to make this apartment feel a bit more like home.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Apartment Update: Asbestos and 25 more working days...
We received a couple of emailed memos from our apartment building the other day. The main gist of the first one was that the hold up in accessing the ninth floor had been caused by a release of asbestos during the fire. The second memo (on Dec. 20th) said it would take about 20-25 working days before they would be able to let people know the status of their unit and belongings. Right now they're doing clean-up and air testing.
In the meantime, as of Dec. 17th, Jeff and I have officially rented a new unit in the same building, so we do have a home, even if we don't have furniture yet. I think we'll just go to Ikea and get some replacements, since we were probably due for a new couch anyway.
Below is the full text from the two memos:
December 15, 2010
To: Residents of the Windsor House
From: Borger Management, Inc.
Re: Update
As you know on November 2, 2010, Windsor House sustained a fire in unit 907. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire, however, the unit was consumed, and water and smoke damaged the 9th floor.
As we began our cleanup effort, we found several asbestos-containing materials: fireproofing spread on kitchen and bathroom ventilation ducts located behind the drywall, textured ceiling surfacing, joint compound in sheetrock on various ceiling and wall assemblies. Water from fire hoses washed some of these materials into unit 907 and throughout the 9th floor common hall. These areas are currently contaminated with asbestos, therefore, residents have been denied access to this area.
We recently completed air sampling on floors 8 & 10 to determine if asbestos contamination was spread to other areas. Sample results showed no asbestos in these other areas. We have engaged in industrial hygiene company, Comprehensive Environmental Assessments (CEA), to help us with the asbestos cleanup. CEA has developed a scope of work, and will oversee the asbestos cleanup process. Once unit 907 and the 9th floor are decontaminated, we will inspect the remaining units on the 9th floor for damage, complete limited air sampling, and then allow the residents to enter. We expect the cleanup to begin this week. All cleanup and restoration work is being performed to meet federal and D.C. asbestos regulations.
As soon as the timing for completion of the work is firm, we will advise you accordingly. Thank you once again for your patience with this extremely unfortunate incident.
December 2, 2010
To: Windsor House 9th Floor Residents
From: Niyi Fajana, Community Manager
Re: 9th Floor Fire Repairs
Please be advised, Windsor House will begin repairs on the 9th floor starting Monday, December 20, 2010 which is expected to last over the next few weeks.
The work will be in several different phases.
1. To contain the situation in unit 907.
2. Make the hallways safe - this work is expected to take 20 working days.
3. Once that is complete, the work will shift into the units where we will complete a visual assessment for damage.
4. Depending on what is found, will determine if any immediate repairs are required. If there isn't any damage, then your unit will need an air sample clearance test, to show no residual asbestos entered the unit during hte fire. Once the unit passes clearance, you will be allowed in to claim your belongings.
5. Should there be asbestos contamination; the contractors will develop a schedule for clean-up.
Approximately, we are roughly 25 working days before knowing what the condition of your belongings are.
We apologize for the delay and appreciate your continued patience as we work through this challenging period.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us in the office or email us.
Thank you in advance.
In the meantime, as of Dec. 17th, Jeff and I have officially rented a new unit in the same building, so we do have a home, even if we don't have furniture yet. I think we'll just go to Ikea and get some replacements, since we were probably due for a new couch anyway.
Below is the full text from the two memos:
December 15, 2010
To: Residents of the Windsor House
From: Borger Management, Inc.
Re: Update
As you know on November 2, 2010, Windsor House sustained a fire in unit 907. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire, however, the unit was consumed, and water and smoke damaged the 9th floor.
As we began our cleanup effort, we found several asbestos-containing materials: fireproofing spread on kitchen and bathroom ventilation ducts located behind the drywall, textured ceiling surfacing, joint compound in sheetrock on various ceiling and wall assemblies. Water from fire hoses washed some of these materials into unit 907 and throughout the 9th floor common hall. These areas are currently contaminated with asbestos, therefore, residents have been denied access to this area.
We recently completed air sampling on floors 8 & 10 to determine if asbestos contamination was spread to other areas. Sample results showed no asbestos in these other areas. We have engaged in industrial hygiene company, Comprehensive Environmental Assessments (CEA), to help us with the asbestos cleanup. CEA has developed a scope of work, and will oversee the asbestos cleanup process. Once unit 907 and the 9th floor are decontaminated, we will inspect the remaining units on the 9th floor for damage, complete limited air sampling, and then allow the residents to enter. We expect the cleanup to begin this week. All cleanup and restoration work is being performed to meet federal and D.C. asbestos regulations.
As soon as the timing for completion of the work is firm, we will advise you accordingly. Thank you once again for your patience with this extremely unfortunate incident.
December 2, 2010
To: Windsor House 9th Floor Residents
From: Niyi Fajana, Community Manager
Re: 9th Floor Fire Repairs
Please be advised, Windsor House will begin repairs on the 9th floor starting Monday, December 20, 2010 which is expected to last over the next few weeks.
The work will be in several different phases.
1. To contain the situation in unit 907.
2. Make the hallways safe - this work is expected to take 20 working days.
3. Once that is complete, the work will shift into the units where we will complete a visual assessment for damage.
4. Depending on what is found, will determine if any immediate repairs are required. If there isn't any damage, then your unit will need an air sample clearance test, to show no residual asbestos entered the unit during hte fire. Once the unit passes clearance, you will be allowed in to claim your belongings.
5. Should there be asbestos contamination; the contractors will develop a schedule for clean-up.
Approximately, we are roughly 25 working days before knowing what the condition of your belongings are.
We apologize for the delay and appreciate your continued patience as we work through this challenging period.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us in the office or email us.
Thank you in advance.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Moving Day No. 4
Jeff and I ended up staying in Baltimore on Sunday night, so our final move (other than the one into our own apartment, which will be in January) was Monday morning. Now we're staying at Kris and Emma's apartment. They have a beautiful apartment, and live not far from our old apartment building, which makes things easier, because we know where everything is in the neighborhood. Also, Kris and Emma recently moved into this apartment and combined their things, so now they're getting rid of all their duplicate DVDs and books, and they offered them to us - so cool - especially because they have much of the same taste in movies... I'm happy to provide a loving home for their excess Battlestar Galactica DVDs...
We've actually barely been in the apartment, though, other than sleeping, because we have work all day and Space Christmas parties all night - but it's definitely nice to know you have a warm place nearby to go back to!
We've actually barely been in the apartment, though, other than sleeping, because we have work all day and Space Christmas parties all night - but it's definitely nice to know you have a warm place nearby to go back to!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Baltimore Weekend
Jeff and I took the commuter rail to Baltimore to spend the weekend at his parent's house. His parent's picked us up at the train station, and we went for dinner at Akbar, an Indian restaurant in downtown Baltimore. I tried salmon tikki masala, which was pretty good, though I think I still prefer chicken as the main ingredient. The samosas and garlic naan I had were great, though.
After that, Jeff's parents went to a play, and Jeff and I drove one of the cars they'd brought into the city back to Jeff's house. It was only about 8:30pm when we got in, but it's been such a long week that we decided to go to bed right away, and were probably asleep by 9pm.
The rest of the weekend I've been glued to my computer, writing the final draft of my two final research papers (one on arms control and one on global governance) and one take-home exam (for international economics). Now everything is finally finished, though I'll review everything once more before turning it in.
I'm definitely excited to be finished with school work for the semester, so I can start focusing on fun holiday stuff!
Oh, and another nice thing about doing work at Jeff's house is that we got to sit in the living room and enjoy the Christmas tree and the fire!
After that, Jeff's parents went to a play, and Jeff and I drove one of the cars they'd brought into the city back to Jeff's house. It was only about 8:30pm when we got in, but it's been such a long week that we decided to go to bed right away, and were probably asleep by 9pm.
The rest of the weekend I've been glued to my computer, writing the final draft of my two final research papers (one on arms control and one on global governance) and one take-home exam (for international economics). Now everything is finally finished, though I'll review everything once more before turning it in.
I'm definitely excited to be finished with school work for the semester, so I can start focusing on fun holiday stuff!
Oh, and another nice thing about doing work at Jeff's house is that we got to sit in the living room and enjoy the Christmas tree and the fire!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Moving Day No. 2 and 3
On Thursday, Jeff and I continued our house-hopping. On Thursday morning, we packed up all of our things (again), but this time we left the bulk of them in Stephanie's basement for safekeeping until we get back from Minnesota. This is really convenient, because now we don't have to lug around the things we don't really need - like some of the papers we've accumulated, or the box of swimming suits that happen to be one of the few items saved from our apartment.
We moved out of Stephanie's place in the morning, and Jeff dropped off our carry-on bags at Jaisha's front desk. That way, when we came home from our adventure with Buzz, we could just get our things from the front desk and head up to her apartment. One thing we didn't quite figure out was what to do with Jeff's bike, so that ended up in Jaisha's kitchen for the night, which I think was ok in the end.
On Friday morning we did a complete pack-up once again (much easier now that we're down to just carry-ons, though) and left our things at Jaisha's front desk when we went off to do work (Jeff went to a cafe). Then Jeff picked up the bags in the afternoon, and met me at my office. We both worked there until around 4:30pm, and then we headed to the train station to catch the commuter rail to Baltimore to spend the weekend with his parents.
Only one more move left - from Jeff's parent's place in Baltimore to Kris and Emma's apartment in DC. We'll be there for three nights, and then we'll head to Minnesota. And when we get back in January, we'll move into a real apartment that's just for us!
We moved out of Stephanie's place in the morning, and Jeff dropped off our carry-on bags at Jaisha's front desk. That way, when we came home from our adventure with Buzz, we could just get our things from the front desk and head up to her apartment. One thing we didn't quite figure out was what to do with Jeff's bike, so that ended up in Jaisha's kitchen for the night, which I think was ok in the end.
On Friday morning we did a complete pack-up once again (much easier now that we're down to just carry-ons, though) and left our things at Jaisha's front desk when we went off to do work (Jeff went to a cafe). Then Jeff picked up the bags in the afternoon, and met me at my office. We both worked there until around 4:30pm, and then we headed to the train station to catch the commuter rail to Baltimore to spend the weekend with his parents.
Only one more move left - from Jeff's parent's place in Baltimore to Kris and Emma's apartment in DC. We'll be there for three nights, and then we'll head to Minnesota. And when we get back in January, we'll move into a real apartment that's just for us!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Apartment Update: At least 30 days more...
We recently got an email with the memo below. The main update is that we won't be able to retrieve any of our things from the apartment for at least 30 days. At least we have the ten things we got earlier, and we've got a nice place to stay!
---
MEMORANDUM
DATE: November 16, 2010
TO: All Residents, Windsor House Apartments
FROM: Gloria Dunbar, ARM
Assistant Vice President
RE: Habitability and Relocation
_______________________________________________________________________
The fire in our building on November 2, 2010 has presented many challenges for all residents as well as for us. In a situation such as this, we strive to make everyone as comfortable as we possibly can, realizing that there will be some frustrations along the way.
Unfortunately, our 9th floor residents will not be able to return to their homes for at least six months due to the restoration that must take place. There is also a concern regarding the conditions that were created by the fire that prohibit access and habitability to the 9th floor. We expect this to continue for at least the next thirty (30) days. We will certainly provide any information regarding access to the 9th floor as it is made available to us. We as Management thoroughly understand the frustration our 9th floor residents are experiencing without access or the ability to retrieve items; however, this matter is beyond our control and we appreciate your cooperation and patience.
In the efforts to extinguish the fire, it was necessary to break several apartment windows to release the smoke and heat. Those residents of apartments without windows cannot return until the window(s) have been replaced. These windows have been ordered, and each window must be custom made to fit the frame and structure of the building. We will advise those residents of the date in which their windows will be installed.
Please know that it is for your safety and best interest in this matter that these actions are taken. We would like to thank all of our residents for their continued support and understanding during this unfortunate incident.
---
MEMORANDUM
DATE: November 16, 2010
TO: All Residents, Windsor House Apartments
FROM: Gloria Dunbar, ARM
Assistant Vice President
RE: Habitability and Relocation
_______________________________________________________________________
The fire in our building on November 2, 2010 has presented many challenges for all residents as well as for us. In a situation such as this, we strive to make everyone as comfortable as we possibly can, realizing that there will be some frustrations along the way.
Unfortunately, our 9th floor residents will not be able to return to their homes for at least six months due to the restoration that must take place. There is also a concern regarding the conditions that were created by the fire that prohibit access and habitability to the 9th floor. We expect this to continue for at least the next thirty (30) days. We will certainly provide any information regarding access to the 9th floor as it is made available to us. We as Management thoroughly understand the frustration our 9th floor residents are experiencing without access or the ability to retrieve items; however, this matter is beyond our control and we appreciate your cooperation and patience.
In the efforts to extinguish the fire, it was necessary to break several apartment windows to release the smoke and heat. Those residents of apartments without windows cannot return until the window(s) have been replaced. These windows have been ordered, and each window must be custom made to fit the frame and structure of the building. We will advise those residents of the date in which their windows will be installed.
Please know that it is for your safety and best interest in this matter that these actions are taken. We would like to thank all of our residents for their continued support and understanding during this unfortunate incident.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Living at Stephanie's
Our friend Stephanie is out of town this weekend, and she offered to let Jeff and I stay at her house and borrow her car. It's worked out really well, it helps a lot to have a little space and be able to just spend the day in one spot - doing work and watching a little TV.
I mentioned before that our clothes are mostly ok, though they have some soot on them. This is a good example - this T-shirt of Jeff's was on the top of the pile of folded clothes - you can tell the square area that was on top - it's a light shade of gray instead of white.
At Stephanie's, we did a bunch of loads of laundry, so now we have clothes that don't smell like smoke. It's a somewhat odd collection, though, since we just have whatever was folded in one of our three closets. Jeff has T-shirts, sweaters, shorts, socks, and underwear. I now have pajamas, T-shirts, sweaters, and cardigans. Neither of us has any pants, other than the ones we were wearing.
Stephanie packed me a bag of clothes to complement what I picked up from my place. So now I do have some jeans to wear, along with other things. She also put together a package of things from Target - toothbrush, toothpaste, deoderant, etc., which was really thoughtful.
Also, Stephanie has two dogs - Petey and Snaffle, that are both really cute. Petey never gets tired of playing catch.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Good News, Bad News
Again, I’ll include the whole story here, but here are a couple main developments:
The Good News: Jeff and I have our laptops back! And they work! Yaaaay! (And thanks to Dave's magic internet-tethering phone, I have internet!)
The Bad News: The apartment management is now estimating that it will be six to nine months before people on the ninth floor can live there again.
So here’s the whole story:
Though there’s not all that much I can do about the whole apartment situation, it’s still been incredibly disruptive and distracting, making it really hard to get normal work done. I haven’t been all that sad about the possibility of losing all of our stuff or having no access to our apartment, but I got pretty upset today just due to the frustration of not being able to focus on normal things I need to get done. I just want to be able to sit down and focus on one thing, and not be thinking about when I’ll go back to the apartment, under what contingencies I’ll stay where, or looking up places to stay in the future. I think the best word to describe the situation is just overwhelming.
I did manage to get some work done today, but there were also lots of new developments with the apartment situation. Jeff and I originally thought we might stay with his parents in Baltimore. It would be nice to see his parents, we’d be comfortable there, and some of our stuff is already there. But, it’d be almost impossible to make the trip to DC every day, and when we did go to College Park or DC, we’d probably need to borrow a car, and Jeff and I would need to coordinate.
Then Brendan called me and said that the Space Foundation, where I work, would pay for me to stay in an extended stay hotel or some type of corporate housing for a few weeks until I can move back into my apartment. That would be really great, because then we could stay in the DC area without having to take over a friend’s living room.
Around 7pm, we called the apartment to check the status of things. They said we might be able to get some things if we came by soon. So we ran over there immediately. When we got there, it turned out that our wing of the ninth floor was still completely off-limits (though the other wing was able to grab some of their stuff today). Our wing would maybe have access by Monday. However, Niyi, who we keep talking with at the apartment, said that we could make a list of a few things and he would go up with some of the construction/ clean-up people and try to get them, which was really, really nice.
Trying to make a list of the ten-ish things that you would like from your apartment, not knowing when you might have access again, is a really crazy experience. It’s like one of those hypothetical questions you ask during icebreakers (e.g. If you could have ten of your belongings and nothing else, what would they be?) They also had to be things for which we could describe the location. Here was our list:
1. Suitcase(s) - We added this as an afterthought, because Niyi suggested it.
1. Laptop and cord - My computer on the coffee table
2. Laptop and cord - Jeff's computer on the kitchen table
3. Camera (SLR) - Under the couch - could definitely have been damaged by water
4. International Economics Text Book - I have class on Monday!
5. Black wool winter jackets - Mine and Jeff's - it's getting cold!
6. Camera charger - Might as well, if I'm getting the camera.
7. White box (this has our passports and other valuables) - Probably better to have get these somewhere safe
8. Boxes of Jewelry - Jeff's grandma just gave me that necklace, and I knew it was in here.
9. Any clothes that will fit in suitcases - We didn't know how describe what to get, we figured we'd just take whatever they could grab.
10. Garage opener and bike keys - Jeff's bike was in the garage, but not usable because he couldn't unlock it.
So Niyi went up and managed to get everything on the list! Yay! He actually filled a giant garbage bag full of our clothes – he grabbed everything from one of the closets.
Niyi also took pictures of our apartment. Everything looks almost completely normal. From what we can tell from the pictures it looks like there was probably standing water on the floor. And based on the things Niyi brought out for us, there is a thin layer of soot on everything. Also, everything smells like a bonfire, which is weird, but probably fixable with a couple good trips through the washing machine.
The Double Tree was full, so Jeff and I head to the Washington Hilton, since it was already getting pretty late. When we got to the hotel, the first thing we did was flip open our laptops – and they both work! Soooo lucky! And my DSLR camera, which I keep under the couch, also seems to be completely functional! Here you can see some of the soot I wiped off my computer - not too bad.
Also, I’ve been trying to keep my status message up to date on gmail and facebook so people know where we’re at. And I have to say, Jeff and I have the most amazing friends ever! Seriously, so many people have offered us a place to stay or tried to help in other ways and it has been really, really heartwarming. We’re very lucky.
Here’s the current plan:
Things aren’t set yet, but here’s what I’m thinking at the moment.
It’s hard to do work at the Washington Hilton, because there is no (free) internet in the room, and we can’t cook any of our meals – which gets expensive. Also, we’d like to be able to do some laundry. So I think we may stay at Stephanie’s house over the weekend. She and Rosalie are both gone, so there is plenty of space for us, and Stephanie is lending us her car.
During that time, in addition to doing some school work, Jeff and I will look into new apartments to rent. We don’t want to change locations completely, and we don’t want to spend much more per month than we were before. One possibility, actually, is that we’ll move into an empty apartment within our same building.
It’s unlikely that any units will be available (even in our same building) until December, so we may still need to take my work up on the offer to do some extended stay living.
Hopefully by December at the latest we’ll be set up in a new apartment, and back to normal.
The Good News: Jeff and I have our laptops back! And they work! Yaaaay! (And thanks to Dave's magic internet-tethering phone, I have internet!)
The Bad News: The apartment management is now estimating that it will be six to nine months before people on the ninth floor can live there again.
So here’s the whole story:
Though there’s not all that much I can do about the whole apartment situation, it’s still been incredibly disruptive and distracting, making it really hard to get normal work done. I haven’t been all that sad about the possibility of losing all of our stuff or having no access to our apartment, but I got pretty upset today just due to the frustration of not being able to focus on normal things I need to get done. I just want to be able to sit down and focus on one thing, and not be thinking about when I’ll go back to the apartment, under what contingencies I’ll stay where, or looking up places to stay in the future. I think the best word to describe the situation is just overwhelming.
I did manage to get some work done today, but there were also lots of new developments with the apartment situation. Jeff and I originally thought we might stay with his parents in Baltimore. It would be nice to see his parents, we’d be comfortable there, and some of our stuff is already there. But, it’d be almost impossible to make the trip to DC every day, and when we did go to College Park or DC, we’d probably need to borrow a car, and Jeff and I would need to coordinate.
Then Brendan called me and said that the Space Foundation, where I work, would pay for me to stay in an extended stay hotel or some type of corporate housing for a few weeks until I can move back into my apartment. That would be really great, because then we could stay in the DC area without having to take over a friend’s living room.
Around 7pm, we called the apartment to check the status of things. They said we might be able to get some things if we came by soon. So we ran over there immediately. When we got there, it turned out that our wing of the ninth floor was still completely off-limits (though the other wing was able to grab some of their stuff today). Our wing would maybe have access by Monday. However, Niyi, who we keep talking with at the apartment, said that we could make a list of a few things and he would go up with some of the construction/ clean-up people and try to get them, which was really, really nice.
Trying to make a list of the ten-ish things that you would like from your apartment, not knowing when you might have access again, is a really crazy experience. It’s like one of those hypothetical questions you ask during icebreakers (e.g. If you could have ten of your belongings and nothing else, what would they be?) They also had to be things for which we could describe the location. Here was our list:
1. Suitcase(s) - We added this as an afterthought, because Niyi suggested it.
1. Laptop and cord - My computer on the coffee table
2. Laptop and cord - Jeff's computer on the kitchen table
3. Camera (SLR) - Under the couch - could definitely have been damaged by water
4. International Economics Text Book - I have class on Monday!
5. Black wool winter jackets - Mine and Jeff's - it's getting cold!
6. Camera charger - Might as well, if I'm getting the camera.
7. White box (this has our passports and other valuables) - Probably better to have get these somewhere safe
8. Boxes of Jewelry - Jeff's grandma just gave me that necklace, and I knew it was in here.
9. Any clothes that will fit in suitcases - We didn't know how describe what to get, we figured we'd just take whatever they could grab.
10. Garage opener and bike keys - Jeff's bike was in the garage, but not usable because he couldn't unlock it.
So Niyi went up and managed to get everything on the list! Yay! He actually filled a giant garbage bag full of our clothes – he grabbed everything from one of the closets.
Niyi also took pictures of our apartment. Everything looks almost completely normal. From what we can tell from the pictures it looks like there was probably standing water on the floor. And based on the things Niyi brought out for us, there is a thin layer of soot on everything. Also, everything smells like a bonfire, which is weird, but probably fixable with a couple good trips through the washing machine.
The pictures are also really strange for Jeff and I to look like, because it's such a moment-frozen-in-time sort of feel. There's a coffee cup sitting out next to the couch, a tie on the kitchen table, dishes to be done, etc. Lots of things that are not the way you would leave them if you knew you'd be gone a long time. In a weird way it reminds me of the pictures of houses in Pompeii, where people left in the middle of what they were doing.
We also got some updated information while talking to Niyi. The apartment management is now estimating that it will be six to nine months before anyone can live on the ninth floor. So essentially we need to find a new place to live.
However, the management will replace one week of hotel stays at either the Double Tree of the Washington Hilton while we look for new housing. Also, they’re reimbursing everyone for the November rent as quickly as possible.
Also, I’ve been trying to keep my status message up to date on gmail and facebook so people know where we’re at. And I have to say, Jeff and I have the most amazing friends ever! Seriously, so many people have offered us a place to stay or tried to help in other ways and it has been really, really heartwarming. We’re very lucky.
Here’s the current plan:
Things aren’t set yet, but here’s what I’m thinking at the moment.
It’s hard to do work at the Washington Hilton, because there is no (free) internet in the room, and we can’t cook any of our meals – which gets expensive. Also, we’d like to be able to do some laundry. So I think we may stay at Stephanie’s house over the weekend. She and Rosalie are both gone, so there is plenty of space for us, and Stephanie is lending us her car.
During that time, in addition to doing some school work, Jeff and I will look into new apartments to rent. We don’t want to change locations completely, and we don’t want to spend much more per month than we were before. One possibility, actually, is that we’ll move into an empty apartment within our same building.
It’s unlikely that any units will be available (even in our same building) until December, so we may still need to take my work up on the offer to do some extended stay living.
Hopefully by December at the latest we’ll be set up in a new apartment, and back to normal.
Weeks, Not Days
So, I'll put the whole story down here, but the main new piece of information is that it's probably going to be weeks, not days, until we can live in our apartment again.
I stopped back at the apartment yesterday after work, but was told that the ninth floor was still completely off-limits, even for just taking a look or grabbing a few things. The building still looks pretty crazy - there are clean-up trucks all over the place. There is still glass all over the courtyard, and there are burnt pages of books and other papers fluttering around.
This morning, Jeff and I went back to the apartment, thinking we had a good chance of getting in, at least to get a few things things. But they told us the ninth floor was still a no-go. We talked to Niyi - one of the people in our building management. He's been there practically 24 hours a day since the fire, keeping everyone informed.
Nobody was being allowed onto the ninth and tenth floor at all. He said there is soot all over the hallway and lots of water damage. In the other wing of the ninth floor, they're currently pulling down the outer half of the hallway walls (the sheet rock that faces into the hallway). They haven't even started to deal with our wing. With all this damage, it's not possible for people to live there, and won't be for a while. Niyi said that he will try hard to get us up to our apartment today or maybe tomorrow to see it and to pack a bag worth of stuff, but that it will probably be weeks, not days, until we can actually live there again.
However, he said that the damage within particular apartments varies quite a bit, and while he didn't remember specifically what 902 looked like, he said that, "Some of the apartments on your floor weren't devastated." He said he guessed that there is probably soot on things, but things like the computers should be ok.
In the building, you can still see the damage, even on the first floor. There are machines for sucking up water, and there is tape and coverings on the walls where there must have been water damage.
Jeff and I went around the back of the building to see if we could tell anything about our apartment from there. The good news is that the window of our apartment was not blown out - it's still in tact. The apartment right next to us, one apartment nearer to the fire-apartment, also has its windows in tact, but every other apartment between that one and the end of the building (where the fire was) has plywood windows now. So I guess we fared better then those people, but we're still pretty close to places with significant damage. It's impossible to tell anything further just looking at the window... but we tried.
So what now? It works to crash in someone's living room for a day or two (thanks, again Kris and Emma!) but it seems unworkable to do that for a few weeks. So I think Jeff and I may try to move back to his parent's house outside Baltimore and work remotely from there for a while. That way, we'd have our own room, some of our clothes and other things are already there, and we could probably borrow a car to get back to DC when we needed to. That's just the thought at the moment... still not really sure what's going to happen.
I stopped back at the apartment yesterday after work, but was told that the ninth floor was still completely off-limits, even for just taking a look or grabbing a few things. The building still looks pretty crazy - there are clean-up trucks all over the place. There is still glass all over the courtyard, and there are burnt pages of books and other papers fluttering around.
So Jeff made a Target run, picking up some essentials (socks, underwear, toothbrush...), and then Jeff and I stayed with Kris and Emma (thanks guys!). We had a nice time with them - they took us out to dinner at Lauriol Plaza, which was super nice (and tasty!).
This morning, Jeff and I went back to the apartment, thinking we had a good chance of getting in, at least to get a few things things. But they told us the ninth floor was still a no-go. We talked to Niyi - one of the people in our building management. He's been there practically 24 hours a day since the fire, keeping everyone informed.
Nobody was being allowed onto the ninth and tenth floor at all. He said there is soot all over the hallway and lots of water damage. In the other wing of the ninth floor, they're currently pulling down the outer half of the hallway walls (the sheet rock that faces into the hallway). They haven't even started to deal with our wing. With all this damage, it's not possible for people to live there, and won't be for a while. Niyi said that he will try hard to get us up to our apartment today or maybe tomorrow to see it and to pack a bag worth of stuff, but that it will probably be weeks, not days, until we can actually live there again.
However, he said that the damage within particular apartments varies quite a bit, and while he didn't remember specifically what 902 looked like, he said that, "Some of the apartments on your floor weren't devastated." He said he guessed that there is probably soot on things, but things like the computers should be ok.
In the building, you can still see the damage, even on the first floor. There are machines for sucking up water, and there is tape and coverings on the walls where there must have been water damage.
Jeff and I went around the back of the building to see if we could tell anything about our apartment from there. The good news is that the window of our apartment was not blown out - it's still in tact. The apartment right next to us, one apartment nearer to the fire-apartment, also has its windows in tact, but every other apartment between that one and the end of the building (where the fire was) has plywood windows now. So I guess we fared better then those people, but we're still pretty close to places with significant damage. It's impossible to tell anything further just looking at the window... but we tried.
Our Apartment (circled in red)
Our Window
So what now? It works to crash in someone's living room for a day or two (thanks, again Kris and Emma!) but it seems unworkable to do that for a few weeks. So I think Jeff and I may try to move back to his parent's house outside Baltimore and work remotely from there for a while. That way, we'd have our own room, some of our clothes and other things are already there, and we could probably borrow a car to get back to DC when we needed to. That's just the thought at the moment... still not really sure what's going to happen.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Apartment Fire
Last night there was a big fire in our apartment building around 5pm. Here's the rundown of what happened from Jeff's and my perspective, and where we're at now...
I went to work in the morning and then straight to class in the afternoon. Around 5pm (while in class), I got a call from Jeff. This was odd, since he knows I'm in class at that time, so I texted him to see what was going on. He texted me back, "There's a fire in our building. 9th floor at the end of our hall on the other side." I asked if it was a big one, and he said, "The windows in that unit were all blown out and it was really burning, but now I don't see any flames. I would not be surprised if we have some serious smoke damage though." We continued texting back and forth a bit.
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Jeff had been at class, come home around 4:10pm, showered, and then went out to get a few groceries from Whole Foods across the street (probably around 4:30pm). In retrospect, he says he thinks he may have heard the alarm going off in the apartment down the hall (in our building, first a smoke detector alarm goes off in your own apartment for a while, and then the whole building alarm goes off), but he thought it was just the beeping of the dryer, so he ignored it. He shopped at Whole Foods for about 20 minutes, and when he got back to the apartment a little before 5pm, there were flames billowing out of the windows of an apartment on the ninth floor. (We also live on the ninth floor - the fire was in 908, and we live in 902.)
Also, my cousin Liz called me, because she'd seen a traffic alert that said there were street closures because of a fire at 1444 Rhode Island. My friend Lewis saw the same alert and emailed. At this point I was pretty distracted, so I left class to call Jeff and Liz. But since no one was being allowed even near the building, I figured it made no sense to hurry back, so I stayed for the rest of class.
I got back to our neighborhood around 8pm. The street was still completely blocked off and there were tons of firetrucks everywhere. Jeff and a lot of the other people from our apartment were in the lobby of the Miramar - an apartment around the corner from us that is owned by the same management company. They were doing a pretty good job of keeping everyone updated with the latest information.
They told us that they had broken the locks on all the doors on the ninth floor, to search for people, so those all needed to be fixed. Also there was water all over, especially in the hallways. The apartments themselves don't have sprinklers, but all the common areas do. They also had lots and lots of tests they needed to do, both to re-set the fire alarm system and also to check everything (gas lines, electrical lines) to make sure it wasn't damaged by the water used to fight the fire. They estimated that it would take a few hours, but that eventually, later that night, most people on the lower floors would be able to go back home. They said that most people on the 8th and 10th floor would not be able to go back, and that no one on the 9th floor would be able to go back tonight. If you had emergency medicine, depending on which apartment you lived in, they would either escort you up, or they you would have to describe where it is and they can get it. Other than that, nobody could go up there.
They ordered pizza for all the people waiting around, and the fire department people interviewed a lot of people who were in the building at the time of the fire (including Jeff). Our next-door neighbor (in 903) was the one who discovered the fire and called the fire department, so they had lots of questions for him.
Eventually, Jeff and I decided to call it a night, since it seemed like there wasn't any new information coming, and since we knew we definitely wouldn't be able to even get in and look at our apartment. We had very generous offers from a lot of our friends to give us a place to stay (Emma & Kris, Jaisha, Liz, Stephanie - Thanks, guys!), and also the management company said they would reimburse hotel rooms for the night. One of the building managers that we know told Jeff and I to go to the Hotel Helix (which is three doors down from our apartment building), which we did, and the Hotel Helix gave us a free room for the night, which was really nice. Overall, everyone involved was really nice, helpful, and efficient. People were working really hard to make the experience as smooth as possible and to keep everyone well informed.
We were able to walk by and look at the apartment later - the apartments in the front of the building have floor to ceiling windows, and those had been blown out by the fire, so there was glass all over the ground, and it looked like there was just a whole wall missing from the apartment where the fire started.
It was really weird not to have any of our stuff - no computers, no books, etc. Though, we were relatively lucky. Jeff and I were both out of the house during the fire, so we had our wallets, phones, etc. Our neighbor from 903 (and I'm sure others) evacuated the building in a hurry, and didn't have anything - no wallet, no phone, etc., and now they can't get back in to get them (if they're even still intact).
So, we bought a bottle of red wine, rented a movie (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) from the hotel entertainment system, and just relaxed.
This morning, Jeff and I showered, got ready (though all we had was yesterday's clothes), and walked over to our apartment to see if we could get in. I really figured we'd be back in by this morning, but they were still keeping everyone on the ninth floor out. They said that maybe they'll be able to escort us up later in the day to get a few things and/or just check the status of our unit.
So then Jeff and I went to the Caribou Coffee on the corner and had some coffee and breakfast, and talked over our plan for the day. It was no use just sitting around near our apartment with no computers and no phones, so we decided to go to school and work. Jeff headed off to Maryland so that he could at least access his school computer, and he planned to stop at Target and buy a phone charger. I went and bought a change of clothes at Ann Taylor, a phone charger from Staples, and then went into the office, which is where I am now.
I went to work in the morning and then straight to class in the afternoon. Around 5pm (while in class), I got a call from Jeff. This was odd, since he knows I'm in class at that time, so I texted him to see what was going on. He texted me back, "There's a fire in our building. 9th floor at the end of our hall on the other side." I asked if it was a big one, and he said, "The windows in that unit were all blown out and it was really burning, but now I don't see any flames. I would not be surprised if we have some serious smoke damage though." We continued texting back and forth a bit.
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(These pictures I found online.)
Jeff had been at class, come home around 4:10pm, showered, and then went out to get a few groceries from Whole Foods across the street (probably around 4:30pm). In retrospect, he says he thinks he may have heard the alarm going off in the apartment down the hall (in our building, first a smoke detector alarm goes off in your own apartment for a while, and then the whole building alarm goes off), but he thought it was just the beeping of the dryer, so he ignored it. He shopped at Whole Foods for about 20 minutes, and when he got back to the apartment a little before 5pm, there were flames billowing out of the windows of an apartment on the ninth floor. (We also live on the ninth floor - the fire was in 908, and we live in 902.)
Also, my cousin Liz called me, because she'd seen a traffic alert that said there were street closures because of a fire at 1444 Rhode Island. My friend Lewis saw the same alert and emailed. At this point I was pretty distracted, so I left class to call Jeff and Liz. But since no one was being allowed even near the building, I figured it made no sense to hurry back, so I stayed for the rest of class.
I got back to our neighborhood around 8pm. The street was still completely blocked off and there were tons of firetrucks everywhere. Jeff and a lot of the other people from our apartment were in the lobby of the Miramar - an apartment around the corner from us that is owned by the same management company. They were doing a pretty good job of keeping everyone updated with the latest information.
They told us that they had broken the locks on all the doors on the ninth floor, to search for people, so those all needed to be fixed. Also there was water all over, especially in the hallways. The apartments themselves don't have sprinklers, but all the common areas do. They also had lots and lots of tests they needed to do, both to re-set the fire alarm system and also to check everything (gas lines, electrical lines) to make sure it wasn't damaged by the water used to fight the fire. They estimated that it would take a few hours, but that eventually, later that night, most people on the lower floors would be able to go back home. They said that most people on the 8th and 10th floor would not be able to go back, and that no one on the 9th floor would be able to go back tonight. If you had emergency medicine, depending on which apartment you lived in, they would either escort you up, or they you would have to describe where it is and they can get it. Other than that, nobody could go up there.
They ordered pizza for all the people waiting around, and the fire department people interviewed a lot of people who were in the building at the time of the fire (including Jeff). Our next-door neighbor (in 903) was the one who discovered the fire and called the fire department, so they had lots of questions for him.
Eventually, Jeff and I decided to call it a night, since it seemed like there wasn't any new information coming, and since we knew we definitely wouldn't be able to even get in and look at our apartment. We had very generous offers from a lot of our friends to give us a place to stay (Emma & Kris, Jaisha, Liz, Stephanie - Thanks, guys!), and also the management company said they would reimburse hotel rooms for the night. One of the building managers that we know told Jeff and I to go to the Hotel Helix (which is three doors down from our apartment building), which we did, and the Hotel Helix gave us a free room for the night, which was really nice. Overall, everyone involved was really nice, helpful, and efficient. People were working really hard to make the experience as smooth as possible and to keep everyone well informed.
We were able to walk by and look at the apartment later - the apartments in the front of the building have floor to ceiling windows, and those had been blown out by the fire, so there was glass all over the ground, and it looked like there was just a whole wall missing from the apartment where the fire started.
It was really weird not to have any of our stuff - no computers, no books, etc. Though, we were relatively lucky. Jeff and I were both out of the house during the fire, so we had our wallets, phones, etc. Our neighbor from 903 (and I'm sure others) evacuated the building in a hurry, and didn't have anything - no wallet, no phone, etc., and now they can't get back in to get them (if they're even still intact).
So, we bought a bottle of red wine, rented a movie (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) from the hotel entertainment system, and just relaxed.
This morning, Jeff and I showered, got ready (though all we had was yesterday's clothes), and walked over to our apartment to see if we could get in. I really figured we'd be back in by this morning, but they were still keeping everyone on the ninth floor out. They said that maybe they'll be able to escort us up later in the day to get a few things and/or just check the status of our unit.
So then Jeff and I went to the Caribou Coffee on the corner and had some coffee and breakfast, and talked over our plan for the day. It was no use just sitting around near our apartment with no computers and no phones, so we decided to go to school and work. Jeff headed off to Maryland so that he could at least access his school computer, and he planned to stop at Target and buy a phone charger. I went and bought a change of clothes at Ann Taylor, a phone charger from Staples, and then went into the office, which is where I am now.
It really is crazy how quickly all your plans can get turned upside down. Before Jeff called, I had written myself a little "To Do" list of things to do that evening. It said:
*Phone Call with Vada @ 8pm (This is one of our potential wedding photographers, I talked to her and explained that this wasn't a good time for us to discuss wedding photography)
*Look at wedding photographer galleries and group comments (This requires my computer...)
*Hang up clothes (These were in a pile on the floor next to the couch, and may be ruined now from smoke and water...)
*Organize Papers (Things also don't look good for all the papers I had spread out on the desk...)
*Scan Econ Papers (Those were on the floor of our apartment, near the scanner. Not the safest position if water got in our apartment...)
*Exercise (Probably still could have done this, technically, but I guess I forgot)
*Blog - Anniversary (I did that today ;) )
*Find save-the-dates (These were also on the floor of our apartment... along with all our labels and stamps.)
I'll write more if there's any news.
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