Tenants of Monarch building reflect on loss
“When I jumped out on the roof, I made my way on the roof to the fire escape and saw the fire,” said Jorden Petersen.
Jorden Petersen had to jump out of his window onto the roof of the First National Bar, getting scraped up on his arm a bit, and that was when he saw the fire. He said it was small, but it grew within minutes to become a monstrous blaze.
“I had enough time to turn around and it was on us,” said Richard Sutton, another resident. It was like a black cloud. Like a blanket. I mean to watch it all just melt? Wow.”
Sutton, said while he’s grateful to be receiving help, it’s hard to be in so much need.
“I’m overwhelmed,” he said. “I don’t like being on this side of that, none of us do. Not one of us here does.”
While everyone is dealing with the loss and the hardship in their own way, one of the firefighters managed to recover a family wedding ring heirloom for one of the tenants. That’s providing hope to many that other things may be salvageable after all.
“Everybody seem to come together to help people out when they need it,” Petersen said.
Petersen said he’s in limbo in more ways than one. Not only did he lose his apartment, but he can’t go to work. His job is at the First National Bar, which is closed until the smoke damage is repaired.
until then, Petersen said he really is glad everyone is OK, but there are sentimental values to the items he no longer has.
“My guitar. I’ll miss my guitars,” he said. “And some of the music I’ve made that I recorded. I’ll never get that back. But they’re just things, really.”
There will be several barbecues for the displaced residents. Anyone who would like to donate other clothing and toiletry items is encouraged to drop those off at St. Vincent De Paul Society, 855 S. 2nd Ave. in Pocatello.
The Red Cross has helped residents who needed replacement medications and is also providing mental health care to those trying to cope with the tremendous loss.
You can also send monetary donations to them through a GoFundMe account set up here: gofundme.com/ef7ed8. As of 8 p.m. Saturday, over $2,000 had been raised.