Housing options explored for fire victims

Montgomery, Minn., considers long-term plans for the residents of low-income apartments destroyed in a blaze.

By HERÓN MÁRQUEZ ESTRADA, Star Tribune

Last update: February 23, 2009 - 12:03 AM

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City officials in Montgomery, Minn., will meet today to talk about long-term housing for more than 40 low-income residents, many of them senior citizens, whose apartment complex was destroyed by fire over the weekend.

The fire, which caused an estimated $1 million in damage, started about 4:30 p.m. Saturday on the second floor of the city-owned complex. All residents escaped safely and the fire was suppressed by 7:30 p.m., said Mick McGuire, mayor of the Le Sueur County community.

"Everything worked like it was supposed to," he said. "We were lucky to have everyone accounted for. As one of the residents told me last night, 'You can always replace the building.'"

Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries, and one firefighter spent the night in the hospital for smoke inhalation and was released Sunday.

The state fire marshal is still trying to determine the cause of the blaze at the two-story L-shaped building, built in 1969 and named Park Manor.

Also still to be determined is if the building will be rebuilt and how the city can help the dozens of residents.

Most of them are seniors, and Park Manor represented most of the city's low-income housing stock. "It's not 100 percent of the low-income housing, but I would say its 85 to 90 percent of it," McGuire said.

On Sunday, he called an emergency session of the City Council to address the problem and to talk about what the city can do about the property, which is a federal Housing and Urban Development facility.

At today's meeting, set for noon, displaced residents will be able to hear what kind of options they might have for housing.

Those options range from the city renting places for them in the city to finding alternative low-income housing in surrounding communities, McGuire said.

As of Sunday, all of the residents were staying with relatives or friends, except for one person housed at a hotel by the American Red Cross.

On Sunday, about half the residents returned to the building to gather whatever belongings they could salvage. Officials will escort more in today.

"A lot of those people are longtime residents of the city," McGuire said. "This is going to be a real challenge."

Heron Marquez Estrada • 612-673-4280