Dozens of students living in University Heights are looking forward to restored electricity and heat this week as work crews clear limbs and repair power lines in the district.
Seven residents of Winspear Avenue, however, are left looking for a new home.
In the aftermath of the October snowstorm that devastated Buffalo and the northern Erie County region, a fire - believed to be caused by a candle being used for light in the house - destroyed 101 Winspear early Saturday morning.
"It was a freak accident," said Nick Mason, a 101 Winspear resident. "We wouldn't have needed candles except for the weather."
The house was a longtime headquarters for the fraternity Pi Lambda Phi.
Dan Farr, president of the fraternity, was also a 101 resident. His hands still sooty from sorting through the wreckage of his old possessions, he was able to joke about the incident.
"Stuff happens," he said. "I'm just grateful to be alive."
The landlord estimated about $60,000 worth of damage to the building, according to Farr. The residents estimated between $150 and $1000 in personal losses, with more than one resident reporting almost no damage at all.
Material goods, however, were not the most painful losses for the residents of 101. To them, the hardest hit was the destruction of the house itself.
"That house has made a lot of memories for a lot of people," he said.
The building served as a frat house for Pi Lambda Phi for over five years. According to Farr, each new class in the UB chapter of the fraternity adds something to it, building to its sentimental value.
Mason is still in shock from the ordeal.
"I'm just not dealing with it yet. It hasn't hit me."
Four of the house's seven residents were home when the fire started, presumably by a candle that was located in Pi Lambda Phi brother Harlan Dube's room.
Dube was not available for comment.
"Dube lost everything, all his possessions," Farr said. "Nothing was salvageable, except for his fraternity pin. He lost all the things from his childhood, all his work, his clothes, his bed. Pretty much everything."
For Farr, the reality of the devastation around him was worse than the nightmare he was having as the fire started.
"I remember dreaming that I looked into the sky and saw so much lightning, but I wasn't scared." Farr said. "I don't know if that means anything."
He awoke to the smell of smoke and a strange whistling noise that the other residents reported hearing as well. They're still not sure what it was, but guess it was their combination fire/carbon monoxide detector.
"I opened my door and a huge black smokescreen hit me in the face. I couldn't see, couldn't breathe. I panicked, and ran back in and called 911 from my cell phone," Farr said. "I dropped to the floor, crawled over to Nick's room, pounded on the door and woke him up. He was out of his room probably in ten seconds."
Within five minutes of the phone call, the Buffalo Fire Department was on the scene with multiple trucks. The fire was extinguished in under an hour.
"They were fast," Mason said. "They arrived so quick I couldn't believe it."
The fire department may have been on top of its game during the incident, but suffered like many other Buffalo residents because of the power outages.
An undisclosed dispatcher reported that because of the blackouts that day and the short duration of the incident, the fire chief was not able to submit a report on the fire. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire was not on record.
Fraternity brothers of the residents were the next to arrive, with more than 20 showing up in under an hour. After being cleared by the investigator to go back inside, the brothers helped move possessions out of the house.
"The reaction's been great. Brothers who live in the dorms are letting us sleep in their rooms (and) they're giving us food. Our brothers are helping us in every way possible," Farr said.
The Buffalo chapter of Pi Lambda Phi contacted fraternity headquarters to ask for financial assistance, and an e-mail was sent out to Pi Lam alumni including Mark Cuban, Bud Selig and Sandy Koufax.
Unfortunately, "there was only so much headquarters could do," said brother and 101 resident Corey Powder.
Friends of the residents stepped up to pick up slack.
"My friends are very supportive." Mason said. "Everyone's offering me a place to stay. I might have to take them up on it soon."
The residents say they chose to stay in their powerless house throughout the storm because they did not know that the Student Union on North Campus was open as an emergency shelter.
"I didn't know we could have slept in the Union," Mason said.
"We didn't have internet to find out (about the closings)," he said about the university's role during the snowstorm. "It's scary, the lack of communication."
"If we had all known there were places to stay," Farr said. "We would have stayed there... It was our own decision to stay in our (house)."
If Farr and Powder hadn't come back that night, Farr isn't sure anyone would have been able to call the fire department.
"Who knows if Nick would even be alive?" Farr said.
Mason is slowly adjusting to life without a place to live, and is frustrated by the continuing blackout and UB's response to the needs of South Campus residents.
"The university was not very sensitive to the South Campus students without power. We still have homework assignments due Thursday. What can I do?"
The landlord plans to move the residents into an apartment on Northrup Avenue as soon as possible, and to have their residence on Winspear Avenue repaired by the end of next semester, according to Farr.
Even with the major loss endured over the weekend, the brothers of 101 Winspear still have the spirit of, well, frat brothers.
"Everything happens for a reason," Mason said.
"Honestly, I was so grateful that I was alive, I felt so lucky and I had a smile on my face most of the day. It was a tragedy, but we're alive," Farr said. "We joked and smiled and I think that's the best thing we could have done."
