When Beverly Culp woke from her afternoon nap Tuesday to the fire alarm going off in her first-floor unit at the Midtown Park Apartments off Markham Street, she had no idea the building she has called home for almost two years was on fire.
“I thought it was a joke or somebody was in need, and instead of being able to call 911 they pulled the fire alarm to bring help to them,” Culp said. “Then I noticed before I opened my window, like 120 people were there and they’re saying, ‘They can’t get out, they can’t get out.’”
After feeling no heat coming from the front door by her kitchen, Culp grabbed her yellow bag with a few belongings, “wadded” up a shirt she was wearing to cover her mouth and “let myself out,” she said.