Couple displaced by massive Squirrel Hill fire try to help others while recovering themselves

Jonahcharis Brown was certain her wedding dress had been in her apartment when a massive fire ripped through the building Tuesday.

“We really, really thought for certain that the wedding dress was in the apartment,” said Brown, who was one of about 30 people displaced from a Squirrel Hill apartment building destroyed in a massive blaze.

But Brown, 24, was pleasantly surprised when she found the dress at her parents’ home in Pittsburgh’s North Side, where she is staying with her spouse, Jasper Mays, until they find a new place to live.

“When you truly have nothing, discovering anything that you thought was for sure gone is just really huge,” Brown told TribLive on Saturday.

She also found a pair of Crocs she had bought with her brother’s fiancee. They, too, were at her parents’ house, safe from the flames that engulfed most of her other belongings.

Brown, who works overnights at a local hotel, was just getting home from her shift and getting ready for bed when the fire broke out.

She recalled hearing a beeping sound — which she later discovered was a fire alarm in the hallway — but dismissed it, figuring it was a noise from the I-376 bridge near the building.

Then she heard someone pounding at a neighbor’s door and wondered what was happening.

It wasn’t until she answered a knock on her own door that she realized the building was on fire.

“I opened the door and immediately I can see the firefighters snaking the hose up the stairs to the higher floors,” she said.

Brown rushed into the bedroom to wake Mays, her spouse.

“They sat up, looked me straight in the eyes and laid back down,” she said, explaining her spouse was “essentially sleepwalking through the whole thing.”

Once they got outside, Brown tried to be optimistic. Their apartment was on the first floor. The fire was upstairs.

Maybe their apartment — which the newlyweds had just moved into in August — would be unscathed.

But after watching the flames ravage the building for hours, Brown lost hope.

The pair returned to the site the next day after hearing firefighters were helping people retrieve some of their belongings.

The morning of the fire, Brown had salvaged only her phone, her wallet and the robe she was wearing.

She wanted to see if crews could get her books.

“I had an extensive library and the firefighters were able to tell (Mays) that the entire collection was intact,” Brown said. “All the books were there. They were not damaged at all by water or anything.”

But before Brown could find boxes for the firefighters to carry the books out, the building was shut down and no one was able to bring anything else in or out, she said.

“Even maybe right now, my perfectly pristine books may be being crushed under piles of rock and rubble and hit by cranes or whatever,” she said, referring to plans to demolish the building. “Just that image has been frustrating me.”

Olga George, a spokeswoman for Mayor Ed Gainey, gave an update Saturday on the status of the razing of the Jefferson Apartments:

“The contractor indicated they are waiting on other agency authorization before they start demolition. They cannot provide a definitive start time.

“One agency is Duquesne Light Company (DLC). DLC is going through their safety protocols, including turning off power and shielding their infrastructure and equipment that may be affected by the demolition.”

Cara Cruz, a Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman, said Fire Investigation Unit detectives have completed their work.

“I anticipate that their findings will be made public in the coming days.”

Someone donated clothing to Brown and her spouse. But Brown has been acutely aware of just how much she lost in the fire, from sentimental stuffed animals to ChapStick.

“It’s strange because when you do lose everything, everything in life is a constant reminder of what you don’t have,” she said.

As Brown talked to a TribLive reporter Saturday, she was waiting for a mailman to drop off a refund of her security deposit and this month’s rent.

She launched a Go Fund Me to raise money after she and Mays lost everything from musical instruments and gaming consoles to furniture and clothing.

Despite the challenges, Brown is still trying to look on the bright side.

She has worked with others displaced by the fire to connect with other tenants of the apartment complex.

They’ve set up social media pages to stay in touch and offer support for one another.

“We’re trying to devote as much extra time and energy to helping everybody else in any capacity we can,” Brown said. “It’s been really beautiful to see everybody come together and help each other out.”

Brown said she’s been focused on spending time with family and friends.

She’s encouraging others displaced by the fire to prioritize their mental health and socialize, even as they struggle to rebuild their lives after losing their apartments and their belongings.

Brown and Mays had just gotten married Aug. 23.

They’re hoping to find ways to celebrate their new marriage in the next few weeks.

Brown also is looking forward to attending a renaissance festival at the end of the month.

She plans to wear her wedding dress.

“I’m like, let’s wear it,” she said. “Let’s go somewhere and use it, because the thing is alive!”