Jordan Blake and David Qualls were hard at work Wednesday morning, fixing a garbage disposal in apartment 102 at Timber Knoll Apartments in Moline, when they heard a loud ringing.
The Rent QC workers had no way of knowing when they walked out of the first-floor apartment how important their next steps would be.
Fire was ripping through the two-story, 16-unit apartment building. Fifteen of the units were rented to tenants and the ringing Blake and Qualls heard was smoke detectors, signaling them to rapidly spreading flames. The fire was primarily on the second floor when they walked into a first-floor hallway.
While the Moline Police Department praised the efforts of those who helped rescue Timber Knoll residents, Qualls and Blake shunned the spotlight.
Qualls declined to comment, and Blake was unavailable for comment Thursday. But the owner of Rent QC, J.C. Millman, offered their account.Â
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It was around 10:15 a.m., he said, when a call came into the Rent QC offices about a water leak in the building.
"Dave (Qualls) and J.J. (Blake) were already in the building, but we sent another maintenance worker over," Millman said. "Here's what I know from what everyone told me:
"Dave (Qualls) and J.J. (Blake) walked out into the hallway and there was smoke coming down from the second floor. They tried to go up the stairs, but they were fully engulfed in flames."
Qualls and Blake started down the first-floor hallway, knocking on doors to alert tenants. At some point, the smoke became so thick they had to crawl on their bellies.
"J.J. (Blake) had to leave the building first because the smoke was too much. Dave (Qualls) stayed and made sure he knocked on all the doors. Then he got out."
Once Qualls and Blake were out of the building, Millman said, they turned their attention to the tenants on the second floor.
"Dave (Qualls) told J.J. (Blake) to get the ladder from his truck," Millman said. "That's when the guys from Asplundh Tree Service showed up. They were helping Dave and J.J. get people off the second-floor balconies."
Millman described how a man and woman reached the balcony with an infant.
"The lady was holding her baby and she dropped the baby down to J.J.," Millman said. "Then they got the lady and the man down."
Moline Police cruisers quickly arrived and parked beneath another balcony.
"They had people jumping down from the balcony to the top of the police cruisers," Millman said. "It was a real team effort all around."
He said, "A lot of heroic people" responded to the fire.
"What our employees did, and the crew from Asplundh, was just amazing," he said. "And the police, first responders and firefighters were amazing too. We just can't thank everyone enough."
Rent QC is working to find alternate housing for the tenants displaced by the fire, Millman said.
Police said the fire was arson and arrested Frederick Jermaine McKenzie, 36, of Moline. He was being held Thursday in the Scott County Jail on an interstate warrant and $100,000 cash-only bond. He waived extradition to Rock Island, where he faces charges of arson and aggravated arson.
He is a former resident of Timber Knoll, police said. Court records show he was evicted from an apartment there in December.
Photos: Fire damages Timber Knoll Apartments in Moline
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street on Wednesday in Moline.Â
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Moline deputy fire chief Kris Johnson gives an update to media as emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
A resident is assisted by firefighters to a nearby warming bus as emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
A resident is assisted by fire fighters to a nearby warming bus as emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews work the scene of a structure fire at Timber Knoll Apartments, 3700 block of 53rd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Moline. Two tenants were transported to a local hospital with injuries, three others were treated on scene, according to fire officials.
Emergency personnel respond to a fire at Timber Knoll Apartments at 53rd Street near John Deere Road, Moline.
