Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007 12:00 am
Apartment blaze displaces neighboor
By THERESA HOGUE
Gazette-Times reporter
A Corvallis man was in critical but stable condition at the Oregon Burn Center at Emanuel Hospital in Portland after suffering severe burns in an apartment house fire early Thursday morning.
Ben Beekman, 29, was in his upstairs apartment at Northwest Tyler Avenue and Seventh Street when his apartment caught on fire about 3:30 a.m. Thursday.
His downstairs neighbor, Neil Swanson, said he awoke to hearing Beekman shouting and tumbling down the inside staircase of the house, and came out of his apartment to find Beekman crouched on the floor.
"I came out, and I could look out and see the glow of the fire," Swanson said.
He covered the crouching Beekman with a blanket, unsure at that time of how badly injured he was. He said Beekman didn't flinch, so he assumed that he was in shock, and not feeling the pain from his burns.
Swanson, who had grabbed his Yorkshire terrier, Digger, in his arms as soon as he heard Beekman shouting, got the dog and his neighbor out the door and onto the sidewalk.
The other two apartments of the house were unoccupied.
Swanson tried to dial 911 several times on his cell phone before realizing that he had forgotten to press "send." By the time he reached dispatch, fire trucks were already on their way.
He was also able to contact Beekman's parents, Susan and George Beekman, who live in Corvallis, and they were able to get to the scene shortly after fire and paramedics arrived.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Corvallis Fire Prevention Officer Jim Patton said.
Susan Beekman said her son was on a ventilator in the Portland hospital and that doctors had told the family he would be unconscious for at least two weeks while he remains on life support.
"At that time we'll know more about the extent of his burns and the damage to his lungs," Susan Beekman said.
Her son will require several surgeries as he recovers, she said, and doctors weren't giving the family any assurances.
Susan Beekman said she and her husband were focusing on the positive, and hoped that friends, family and strangers would send Beekman healing thoughts.
"I really believe right now that's the best thing we can do," she said.
Ben Beekman is a Web and multimedia designer who works for Growing Edge, a hydroponic gardening publication, as well as designing Web pages and signs for local clients, sometimes donating his time to non-profit organizations. He designed the Solar Creek signs that adorn both First Alternative Co-Ops, his mother Susan said.
He is also a techno DJ, a musician, and has remixed songs for his sister, Johanna Beekman, a local performer.
His extensive record collection, and his Mac computer where he did most of his work, were both destroyed in the fire, along with all of his other possessions.
Swanson, who has rented his apartment for more than 20 years, said he is is now looking for another place to stay. Although the fire was contained to the upstairs apartment, water and smoke damage have made his downstairs apartment unlivable.
A self-employed construction worker, he often travels out of town, but he likes having Corvallis as his home base. He said the new owners of the apartment house had recently done extensive work on the property, from foundation work to brand new paint which just went up a week ago.
The Oregon Pacific Chapter of the American Red Cross responded to the fire Thursday morning, and offered help to Swanson and to Beekman's family. Swanson said he declined the Red Cross offer to place him in a hotel room and that he plans to camp out on the property until he locates another place to live.
Twenty firefighters, five engines, an aerial ladder truck and two ambulances reported to the scene. It took 90 minutes to get the fire under control.
How to help
An account has been set up in the name of burn victim Ben Beekman at the OSU Federal Credit Union. Donations will be used to pay for Beekman's medical expenses. He is currently on life support at the Oregon Burn Center at Emanuel Hospital in Portland.
Donations to offset the expenses of the Oregon Pacific Chapter of the American Red Cross's Disaster Action Team can be made by calling 926-1543.