By Aaron C. Davis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 4, 2008

Baya Bayantsagaan awoke early yesterday to sirens, smoke and terror ripping through a quiet Rockville apartment complex.

With firefighters banging on doors and plucking residents from balconies, he rushed outside to witness the moment when the already deadly fire threatened to become much worse. The third floor of the Halpine View apartment building collapsed onto the second story, plunging three firefighters into the roaring pit of flames where the blaze began.

As dozens of firefighters retreated to safety, the three inside could only grope their way through the heat and fire for a way out. One made it to a door, but for the other two, the only escape was through a window.

"It looked like they dived out headfirst," Bayantsagaan said. "I've never seen anything like that in my life. It's the kind of thing you see on TV."

Montgomery County fire and rescue officials classified the floor cave-in that threatened the lives of three firefighters as a "catastrophic" collapse, a rare instance in which the entire floor of a room gives way. Typically, a piece of a floor or an area limited to a few feet in diameter might crumble, not an entire room, said Peter Piringer, spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.

"It's a really close call in our world. It could have been much worse," he said.

The fire claimed the life of Timothy Moran, 50, the resident of the apartment where the blaze began. The fire started in his bedroom, investigators said. He was found on the floor of his living room, near the door. He died at the scene from smoke inhalation and burns, according to an initial autopsy, Piringer said.

The two who jumped from Moran's second-story window -- Capt. Dwayne Dutrow, 38, and firefighter James Heikka, 31 -- were in serious condition in the burn unit at Washington Hospital Center.

They suffered burns, mostly to the hands and arms, and injuries from the fall, Piringer said. One landed on his back, still wearing his oxygen tank and gear. The third firefighter caught in the collapse, Mark Mechlin, was able to get out the apartment door. His injuries were less serious, and he was expected to be treated and released.

Firefighters rescued four residents from the building. One of them suffered minor injuries, Piringer said.

Isa Gungor, who lives in a nearby unit, said he is amazed that more people were not hurt. "The fire was blowing straight out, like something was pushing it out" the balcony doors, Gungor recalled yesterday from a nearby Red Cross shelter set up for the estimated 50 residents displaced by the fire.

Six apartments in the sprawling, garden-style complex sustained fire damage, several others were filled with smoke and water, and more than a dozen were rendered unlivable, at least for yesterday, because the fire knocked out water and electricity to an adjoining building.

Gungor was roused from sleep by firefighters banging on his door, telling him to get out of the building. He gathered his wife, Mariye, and two children and fled to the parking lot. As the fire grew and approached his apartment, he was stopped by firefighters when he tried to go back into the building to retrieve his family's passports.

"It was the one thing I was worried about," said Gungor, a hairstylist from Turkey who works in Silver Spring.

Grady Management, the company that operates the Twinbrook Parkway complex, did not return a call seeking comment yesterday. The well-manicured complex was constructed decades ago, before such structures were required to have buildingwide fire alarms and sprinkler systems, Piringer said.

The floor collapse was all the more surprising, he said, because the brick building appeared to be well constructed, with thick floors.

Piringer said investigators estimated damage to the building at $1.1 million, a figure large enough that under state law, the owner probably will be required to install alarms and sprinklers when it is rebuilt.