UPDATE: Woodcrest apartment fire claims second life - News - Dover Post

A Felton woman has become the second victim of a deadly fire that swept the Woodcrest Arms apartment complex June 6.

Jeff Brown, News Editor

A second victim of the June 6 fire at Woodcrest Arms apartment complex has died.

Christina Lynn Taylor, 33, of Cedar Grove Church Road, Felton, died the afternoon of June 7 while at Crozier Chester Burn Center, Chester, Pa., said Dover Police Capt. Tim Stump.

Taylor and her boyfriend had been at the apartments to help a relative move, Stump said.

The boyfriend, whose name was not released, was still at the burn center, where he had been taken with life-threatening injuries after the fire.

Stump also identified the first victim of the blaze as Jacqueline Wuest, 61. Wuest’s body was found in her third-floor apartment during an initial sweep of the building.

The city of Dover fire marshal is continuing his investigation into the cause of the fire, Stump said.

--------------

An early morning fire ripped through a building in Woodcrest Arms Apartments, Woodcrest Drive, Dover, leaving at least one woman dead and six injured.

The fire broke out shortly before 6 a.m. June 6 in Building 904 of the apartment complex, said Dover Police Department spokesman Capt. Tim Stump.

Stump did not release the name of the deceased woman, but added police are working to confirm her identity and notify next of kin. Her remains were found inside one of the apartments during an initial sweep of the building.

Two of the injuries were considered life threateningand those persons have been taken to the Crozier Chester Burn Center, in Chester Pa., Stump said. Four persons, whose injuries were not considered as serious, were taken to Bayhealth-Kent General Hospital.

Both Stump and city Fire Marshal David Truax said they are conducting a joint investigation into the cause of the blaze. More information will be released when it is available, they said.

Neighbors and building residents described a nightmarish scene, with people jumping out of second- and third-story windows, some with severe burns. Thick, black smoke enveloped the three-story, T-shaped building, which contains 28 apartments. There was no word available about how many people were in the building at the time.

Andrea Coverdale, who said she lived on the second floor of the building, barely made it out of her burning apartment.

“I heard people hollering for us to get out, that we were on fire,” she said. “By the time I got downstairs, there was black smoke everywhere. I crawled down the stairs, and someone helped me out.

“It all happened so fast. When I got out, the whole downstairs was on fire.

“I lost everything,” she said.

Access to the apartments in the complex, which were built approximately 40 years ago, is off a common stairwell. Evidence at the scene indicates the most severe damage was to the entrance on the northeast side of the building. The roof on that section was totally burned away, with catastrophic damage to the residences immediately below.

The homes of Sheila Serrano and her next-door neighbor, James Bell, are both across the street from the destroyed building. Both said the fire was so intense the heat could be felt at their homes.

“We woke up and looked outside and just saw black smoke everywhere,” she said.

“It was just terrible,” Bell said. “Terrible, terrible.”

“There were people just jumping out of the windows,” added Freddy Serrano. “There were others running around yelling at people to get out.”

Another witness, Katrina Woodward, said she’d talked to at least one person who heard a woman screaming that she was trapped by the flames.

Chris Williams, who lives in another building in the complex, said one of the survivors said he had barely escaped.

“He said they went to get out, but the doorknobs were so hot they were soft. He said they had to get out through the windows.”

Assistant Fire Chief Patrick West said crews from Dover, Hartly, Cheswold, Camden-Wyoming, Little Creek, Smyrna, and Clayton responded to the three-alarm fire, as did an Odessa rehabilitation unit.

Dover Fire Chief Sean Christiansen said West, who was the first officer on the scene, found the area engulfed in smoke and fire coming from the second and third floors on the north side of the building.

“The fires quickly progressed through the roof,” Christiansen said, “and was through the roof before the first fire engine got here.”

The building had working fire alarms — which continued to blare long after the fire was extinguished — but no fire suppression or sprinkler systems. Once such fires reach the open space of a building attic, they tend to spread phenomenally fast, he said.

The American Red Cross has set up a temporary shelter at Dover High School to assist those displaced by the fire.

Woodcrest Arms is owned by Morgan Properties of King of Prussia, Pa. A spokesman for the company declined immediate comment.

Anyone who may have information about the fire is asked to call Dover Police at 736-7130.

Email Jeff Brown at jeff.brown@doverpost.com.