8 | Sunday, June 22, 2008 | St. Petersburg Times R LAR BY JACKIE ALEXANDER Times Staff WriterBefore Wednesday m everything she needed. Maxie, her talking p while she watched her collection. But Wednesday nigh her condominium at Be Maxie is dead. Inch belongings. “Now, this” is the on said, looking down at body. Bayer, 81, whom po of her burning condo, der, injured back and is just one of 30 reside lives back together afte destroyed five condos aat 1975 West Bay Drive i “When I heard the p was half asleep,” she sai Largo Times > JIM DAMASKE | Times Salvage crews board up damaged units Friday and assess the damage of a fire that gutted units at the Belleair Oaks condominiums. Before Wednesday, W it’s all gone, including Fire Wilma Bay “There’s never g LAR R St. Petersburg Times | Sunday, June 22, 2008 | 9 orning, Wilma Bayer had arrot, kept her companyCharlton Heston movie t, a fire ripped through lleair Oaks. es of ash cover Bayer’s ly thing she has left, she her broken and bruised lice officers pulled out suffered a broken shoul- smoke inhalation. She nts trying to piece their r the early-morning fire nd left 11 uninhabitable in Largo. ounding on the door, I id. As she struggled to get out of bed, she fell and crawled through the smoke-filled condo. Bayer said she could hear people, but she just wanted to sleep. “I wanted to lie down and get away from everything,” she said. The American Red Cross is working with sev- eral fire victims. Mary O’Geary, a volunteer case worker, said she can relate to their plight. When she lived in North Carolina, her home was hit eight times byhurricanes. “When you see people in need, you have to do something about it,” O’Geary said. O’Geary said she overheard an 88-year-old woman, who had nothing but a nightgown, tell afriend she didn’t want to get dinner. “So I went shopping and got her a pair ofslacks and a shirt so she could go to dinner,” O’Geary said. Kenneth Niami, Bayer’s son, said he doesn’t know where his mother will go once she leaves the hospital. Niami said he would have to buy a bigger house to make room, but Bayer said she prefers living alone. “She wakes up one day and everything is gone,” Niami said. Going home won’t be an option for several months. Rob Smith, project manager for BayArea Disaster Kleenup, said it will likely be at least six months before repairs are done. Debbie Reinhardt, an owner of the complex’s property management company, said the group doesn’t have a final determination on the build- ing’s status. “To us it appears that the building will end up being demolished and the building will have to be rebuilt,” Reinhardt said. “(But) it has not been determined yet.” Reinhardt said the group estimates the loss at $1.7-million . Homeowne rs with insurance will be fully covered. She said only four units were uninsured. But money won’t bring back everything that was lost. Niami said a woman who saw Bayer on TVafter the fire wants to give her two songbirds. “But there’s never going to be another Maxie,” Bayer said. The Rev. George Hubbell, a chaplain at Sun Coast Hospital, stopped by Bayer’s room Friday. The hospital has a clothes closet to help disaster victims like Bayer. “We have everything you need,” he told her. Bayer said now she has to focus on recovery, not the things she lost. “I can’t think about it,” she said. “I don’t want to think about it.” It was a busy week for the Largo Fire Department, said Chief Michael Wallace. Hours after the blaze at Belleair Oaks, alawn care business at 204 Woodrow Ave. NWcaught fire. “We have several fires a day,” Wallace said. “It’s unusual to have them so dramatic.” Jackie Alexander can be reached at jdalexander@ sptimes.com or (727) 445-4167. pinellas.tampabay.comfor more Pinellas County news JIM DAMASKE | Times ilma Bayer, 81, had all she needed. Now Maxie, her beloved pet parrot. survivor puts focus on recovery er, 81, lost everything — even Maxie, her talking parrot. But she can’t think about that. EAMONN KNEESHAW | Special to the Times Residents said they had only moments to scramble to safety a s a fire ripped through their condominiums Wednesday. ing to be another Maxie.”WilmaBayer, fire victim who lost everything, referring to her parrot.
