Recovery slow from Rolling Meadows condo fire
More than a year after fire displaced them from their homes in the Carriageway Court condominiums in Rolling Meadows, residents are still waiting to move back in and growing more angry and frustrated by the day.
Fire tore through the 87-unit building at 5200 Carriageway Drive on May 25, 2009, leaving no injuries, but dozens of homes uninhabitable with damage from flames, smoke and water.
In the wake of the fire, residents say, the building's management promised they would be back in their homes sometime around December. December turned into May and now, according to the latest they're hearing, perhaps July.
"You want to be settled, you want your life back again," said Pat Jirkovsky, one of about 100 Carriageway residents left without homes after the fire. "It's been hard on a lot of people. It's beginning to be a financial hardship."
Jirkovsky and her husband, Jim, are living down the street at the Saratoga Condominiums, while many former neighbors have found similar arrangements in the area.
Besides the slow pace of renovations, Jim Jirkovsky said residents also are upset the building has become a target for burglars who see the empty complex as an easy target.
Building manager Joan Anderson defended the pace of the renovations, saying extensive water damage to the building, and the difficulties that arose while working through the winter, have delayed the project.
More problems came up because water to the building had been turned off for almost a year. When workers went to turn it back on, they discovered major leaks in multiple spots, Anderson said.
"Everyone is working hard," she added.
Residents whose homes were in the building's outer wings could be able to move back in two weeks, Anderson said. Those in units near the center of the building likely will have to wait until the latter part of July.
Valerie Dehner, Rolling Meadows' community development director, said city workers will inspect the condominiums once construction finishes.
"The city has no control over how quickly the work is being done," she said.
The cause of the fire, which began in a third-floor residence then spread upward, remains undetermined, Rolling Meadows Fire Chief Ron Stewart said.
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<li><a href="/story/?id=384453">Images from Rolling Meadows condo fire </a></li>
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<li><a href="/story/?id=296407">Residents return to fire-damaged condos in Rolling Meadows <span class="date">[05/27/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=296070">No injuries in Rolling Meadows condo fire <span class="date">[05/25/10]</span></a></li>
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