'I had a turkey in the oven': Displaced residents waiting for OK to return to Plumley Village apartments
WORCESTER — Maritza Baez and her neighbors remain eager to return their 16-story Plumley Village apartment building, evacuated since an early morning electrical fire on Thanksgiving knocked out power.
As of Monday afternoon, the more than 300 residents had not been given the go-ahead to move back in. Some tenants were allowed in with a facility manager’s escort to retrieve some belongings.
The management company, Community Builders, has helped provide free temporary housing in hotels for some residents. Others are staying with friends.
Crews are working to repair the electrical system. The company has not detailed when residents will be able to return, saying on Monday that it hoped to give a timeline soon.
“I had a turkey in the oven. I had a ham in the oven. I had pumpkin pie. I had everything,” Baez said Monday morning as she fought back tears. She is staying in a hotel. “Everything was on the table.”
Baez — who lives on the 12th floor of the apartment building at 16 Laurel St. — said she was planning to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner with her son and daughter, daughter-in-law, two grandchildren and a few nieces, but her plans were ruined by the electrical fire reported at 3:45 a.m. Thursday.
Baez, who is in her mid-60s, was in the hospital the night of the fire, recently diagnosed with cancer, and learned of the situation from her son, who was in the lobby when she arrived home.
“He said, ‘Mommy, you can’t go upstairs. There was a fire in the electrical room.’ I said, ‘How, when that room was closed?’” Baez recalled.
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Due to the electrical fire, Baez said, the family meal was cancelled and she ended up spending her Thanksgiving day alone in a hotel room that has become her temporary residence.
“The day before, I spent three-hundred-something on food for Thanksgiving,” Baez said. “And everything went bad. Who’s going to pay that thing for me?”
Baez said she got word Monday they were going to clean out her refrigerator and throw all perishable foods away.
“Plumley is helping me a lot, but they took away a lot from me,” Baez said. “It took away my family. And they ruined Thanksgiving for me.
“I don’t want to be here. I want to be home,” Baez cried out in the lobby of the hotel she has been staying in since Thursday morning. “I’m dying. I want to die in peace. I want to die in my house. I don’t want to die outside.”
The fire, in a second-floor electrical room, knocked out power to much of the building. There are 120 apartments. No apartments or common areas were damaged.
In addition to offering accommodations, Community Builders said it distributed Thanksgiving meals, cases of water, snacks and Visa gift cards to displaced families, and that staff is coordinating with local service agencies to provide ongoing support.
On Monday afternoon, Community Builders said 81 of the 120 displaced households had accepted the company's offer of temporary housing.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Displaced residents waiting to return to Plumley Village apartments
