Some residents complained that they had heard no fire alarms before becoming aware of the fire and scrambled to escape only after hearing a loud commotion. Representatives of Berkshire Property Advisors LLC, which manages the complex and more than 26,000 other apartments in 14 states, did not return calls seeking comment yesterday. The company's Web site says the Satyr Hill complex recently underwent $2.8 million in renovations.
Fire officials said many of the residents did not have renters' insurance that might have helped them recover from the blaze. Despite their losses, some of those who escaped were, above all, relieved.
"I looked out my window and it was orange, so we rushed out," Jasmine Campbell, 23, said as she described the encircling flames.
Campbell, who graduated last year from Morgan State University, returned to the complex yesterday morning to see whether anything was left. She was hoping to be allowed inside, she said, to "salvage some of my valuables, the stuff we can't replace." She borrowed a reporter's notebook to tally some of the things she feared might be burned or waterlogged, including her pocketbook, digital camera and bank cards.
"I need some clothes to put on my back because I'm freezing and so I don't have to ask my friends for clothes, even though they're willing," Campbell said as she began chipping at the sheet of ice covering her car in the parking lot. "I'm praying we can get our clothes out."
Tiffany Nicholson, who had fallen asleep on her couch and awakened with a start, said she grabbed her 2-year-old son and her Yorkshire terrier as soon as it became clear they needed to evacuate. "When we opened the door, we saw the flames," she said. "They were blocking the main door in the hallway."
Nicholson took another route out and headed for her car. At that point, her husband, who she said had been having a boys' night out nearby, appeared.
"He was coming to save the day, but we were all right," she said. "We're fine."
Nicholson, a 26-year-old employee of the federal government who is a diabetic, said a fire investigator had fetched from her apartment a box containing her medications, and that she had received multiple offers of help from emergency officials, the Red Cross and members of her church.
"I have a new respect for all of them," she said. "Nothing but good can come of this. You've got to be optimistic."
Sun reporter Gus G. Sentementes contributed to this article.
