In the early afternoon hours of Oct. 6, following a routine night shift as a bar back, Murfreesboro resident Alexander Luger awoke unexpectedly in his residence at 923 E. Vine St. to a smoke-filled home and a rapidly spreading fire.
Luger, 32 years old, now firmly believes that you don’t really think about the whole “stop, drop and roll” protocol in the heat of the moment while crawling below smoke. Instead, he quickly fled downstairs, opened the back door, and emerged with hands as black as tar.
He noticed his pets had not escaped with him. He ran back in but was not able to find them.
According to the incident narrative of the City of Murfreesboro Fire & Rescue Department, “One dog was removed from the house alive, and another dog and a cat were removed deceased. PAWS was notified and took control of the deceased animals. Life-saving attempts were made for the dog with no success.”
Murfreesboro Fire Station 1 is fortuitously located on the same street (202 E. Vine St.), and the response time from the 911 call to the fire department’s arrival on the scene was 4:04. Officials continue to investigate the cause of the fire.
After his second escape from his side of the duplex, Luger banged on his neighbor’s door. At this point, the neighbors had called 911, and first responders were already on their way. There was smoke damage to 925, the neighboring unit, but no damage caused directly by fire. Rutherford County Real Property calculated property loss at 30% of the property value.
As first responders arrived, Luger recounts watching five to six feet of flames emerge from the front window of his residence. Luger’s brother, who was living with him, was at work at the time of the fire.
Luger was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center Hospital, where he was kept and treated for second and third degree burns on his arms and first degree burns on his chest, as well as burns that damaged his corneas, leaving him blind for a week.
For the first week, all he could see was white light. He can again see, but remains visually impaired and the extent of permanent damage remains unclear. Luger is still bandaged up and using medicated eye drops.
Luger has since returned for his truck and picked up belongings found intact, such as his belt and pocketknife.
A downtown Murfreesboro bar and tattoo shop are leading an effort of community solidarity and aid. Luger, who works at the Wall Street Bar & Grill on Maple Street, said he greatly appreciates his coworkers and patrons.
“Honestly, the biggest thing that’s been great for me is the outpouring of support from not only the bar, but also this community,” Luger said. “The amount of donations of clothing, shoes, boots, money, help in general, has been insane.”
Wall Street has pledged a dollar for every well liquor sale to the fire victims. A GoFundMe campaign, titled “Help Luger Recover and Rebuild after Housefire,” has since been launched and has already raised $4,000 and is growing.
Clothes and furniture are also being gathered for Luger, who is currently staying with friends.
Primordial Ink is currently promoting two-inch-by-two-inch tattoos, in color or without, for only $20 apiece, and donating 100% of the proceeds straight to the GoFundMe page.
“I met Luger as the bar back/door guy at Wall Street, and we just kind of hit it off because we were both kind of outspoken individuals, with similar tattoos and stuff, just goofy guys, and we just became real close friends,” said Brandon “Bacon” Benge, who owns Primordial Ink, 201 W. Main St, Suite 303. To get there, go down the staircase in the alleyway beside High Society on Main Street.
The shop will continue its charitable $20 promotion even after money is raised for Luger, next fundraising for “Toys for Tats,” a toy drive that Bacon is involved with.
For more information or to donate to the fire victim, find the Help Luger Recover and Rebuild after Housefire page on GoFundMe.
