David Kuntz's head had barely hit the pillow early Friday when he said God kicked him in the face.
Moments later, a whiff of smoke wafted into his Plymouth apartment. After grabbing his wife and their baby boy and scooting them outside, he pulled the fire alarm in the hall, banging on neighbors' doors and screaming "Flames! Flames! Get out! Get out!" He didn't heed his own advice, returning to his apartment twice to try to rescue his two dogs. He saved one but, crawling on the floor as flames shot through the living room, he couldn't rescue his 4-year-old wire fox terrier, Max.
Several residents credited Kuntz and another man for rousing them from sleep and getting everyone safely out of the large, three-story building, part of the Parkside complex on the 12000 block of 41st Avenue N. More than 150 people have been displaced, but nobody was seriously injured. It took firefighters from 17 departments about nine hours to extinguish the blaze, and nearly 40 of 72 units in the building were severely damaged, fire officials said.
The cause has not yet been determined.
The building, constructed in 1986, didn't have a sprinkler system, something that wasn't required by state law until 1989. The state's code now requires new apartment buildings with three or more stories or more than 16 units to have sprinkler systems.
Kuntz estimated it took only a minute before flames engulfed his second-floor apartment. He was thankful that his family wasn't harmed but angry that the state doesn't require older buildings to install sprinkler systems. He said he saw firsthand how difficult it was for several of his elderly neighbors to get out.
Danie Kinler, who lived two doors down from Kuntz, was awakened by his warning. Both lost all of their possessions. She was allowed inside her unit for a few minutes Friday, where she gathered some family photos.
"After I escaped outside during the fire, I just had to watch it and see if it was going to destroy my home," she said. "A lot of good people had bad things happen."
