By MATT LINDSEY
North Country Now

POTSDAM — A smoke alarm alerted a couple living in the apartment where the fire started at Lawrence Avenue Apartments, but it was screams that caused them to realize it was serious.

Brian Fuller and Laura Beamis lived in the apartment where the fire originated on Jan. 26 at an apartment complex at Debra Drive. The building they lived in housed nearly 50 people.

Fuller says he did not see smoke or fire, or smell anything burning when he was woken up around 3:30 a.m. by alarms.

“When I heard someone scream I knew it was something major,” he said.

He said he went into the hallway to see if something was going on and then headed back into his apartment. It was then that he saw a fire in the bathroom where a fan is located in the ceiling.

“My girlfriend turned the fan on and the power immediately went out,” Fuller said.

Fuller and Beamis gathered some belongings like wallets, cell phones and keys before leaving the apartment to alert other residents.

No alarms other than the one in Fuller’s apartment were going off. Fuller said he and Beamis went door-to-door alerting people of the blaze.

“People didn’t believe me,” Fuller said. He said he was pounding on the door “like the cops.”

It was about this time Fuller heard crackling sounds getting louder.

Fuller said he helped get everyone outside where police were waiting. He claims he never saw police enter the building to help evacuate the building. He says the police officer only asked him if everyone was out.

For now, Fuller and Beamis are staying at the Hampton Inn in Potsdam. His renter’s insurance is covering his stay there until he can find more permanent housing. He says others have not as fortunate.

Fuller says other tenants are staying at hotels in Massena and Canton and he has heard that permanent housing could end up being in Canton or Massena.

“Nobody is happy about that — they work in Potsdam and some don’t have cars,” Fuller said.

Tenants, including Fuller and Beamis, were allowed back inside to gather some belongings, but not all of them. The couple was able to get clothing through area donation drives.

“I needed clothes for work,” he said.

Now Fuller, Beamis and the other tenants wait to find out when they can return to their homes.