Early in the morning of Nov. 30, Idan Applebaum, 20, awoke to a nightmarish scene.
“It’s one of those things you say will never happen to you,” Applebaum said, “But when it does, it’s a complete shock to your system.”
Flames were already above the windows and beginning to engulf the two-story apartment building at 765 E. 18th Ave. in a blaze that would put his roommate, University student John Huddleston in critical condition in a Portland hospital.
Huddleston is still currently in serious condition, but he has regained consciousness.
“He’s doing much, much better now, but he still has a long recovery ahead of him,” Applebaum said.
The blaze, which started when a smoldering cigarette ignited a couch in front of the men’s apartment, left a total of seven students homeless and caused an estimated $200,000 in damages.
When Applebaum first realized the building was on fire on that November morning, he said, his gut reaction was to extinguish the flames himself.
“I ran into the kitchen and filled up a bowl of water in the sink – that was my first instinct,” he said. “But by the time I got out of the kitchen, the whole living room was on fire. There was nothing I could do.”
Applebaum threw the bowl to the side and went to wake up Huddleston. He hit Huddleston a couple of times and yelled at him until the 19-year-old responded.
“I said, ‘John, get up, get up, John, we gotta get outta here,’” he said. “John popped up really fast in a sitting position and started looking all around.”
Thinking Huddleston was alert, Applebaum rushed through the living room and out the front door.
“The smoke was so thick, it was so black, I couldn’t see anything,” Applebaum said. “I thought he was behind me. When you’re in that situation, you’re body is pumping so much adrenaline that you just don’t know what’s going on.”
But Huddleston didn’t follow his roommate out.
One resident busted the window of Huddleston’s room to try to pull him out. As thick black smoke billowed out of the ground-floor window, Applebaum tried to reach his roommate.
“The heat was just too intense, it was like an oven. We couldn’t even stand next to the window, it was too hot.” he said. “We tried to yell into the window for him.”
Huddleston didn’t respond.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, they pulled Huddleston out of the same window and resuscitated him shortly after 4:09 a.m. He was then transported to Sacred Heart Medical Center by ambulance before being moved to Legacy Emmanuel Hospital in Portland by helicopter.
Applebaum said he went to visit his roommate, but no visitors were allowed to see the then-unconscious Huddleston. Huddleston has since gained consciousness and is showing signs of improvement, Applebaum said.
He added that Huddleston is scheduled for surgery today.
Applebaum said he hasn’t been back to the complex since that night.
“My dad went and said my room was completely burnt. Everything was gone,” Applebaum said, who has since moved back home with his parents to save money.
“My dad said everything was destroyed, the walls were peeling and the place was soaked,” he said. “It’s the type of thing you don’t even want to see.”
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