Richard Fair moved Saturday from a South Toledo mobile-home park to a third-floor apartment nearby.

A day later, he and three others died in an early-morning fire that overtook their Woodlands Apartments building.

The Lucas County Coroner’s Office said Sharell Crisp, 28, Antoinette Brown, 31, Ahmard Brown, 5, and Mr. Fair, 46, all died Sunday in the fire at the building at 2403 Cheyenne Blvd., south of the former Southwyck Shopping Center site. Autopsies likely will be complete by Wednesday, the coroner’s office said.

Mr. Fair’s uncle, also named Richard Fair, said his nephew looked forward to the new residence. He had three children, including two who resided with him, but they were away that night with a relative.

The younger Mr. Fair was an upstanding citizen who volunteered his time, said Mr. Fair, 70, of Toledo.

“He was always proper. He respected people. He conducted himself as a gentleman,” Mr. Fair said. “We’re holding on the best we can do to be there for each other, because that’s what we do as a family.”

Fire investigators Monday were in their second day of assessing the blaze that also displaced dozens of tenants. Toledo fire Lt. Matthew Hertzfeld said they have not determined its cause or estimated damage. Fire officials could not say on Monday whether the complex had working smoke detectors.

The building was one of five multiunit dwellings in a complex listed in Lucas County land records as belonging to L.C. Woodlands LLC, which has a mailing address in the Cleveland suburb of Pepper Pike, Ohio. 

The fire engulfed one of the building’s main staircases, Lieutenant Hertzfeld said. People should always maintain their own residential smoke alarms and know two ways to escape their homes, he said.

Fire officials could not immediately recall Toledo’s last residential fire that killed so many people. In 2004, a blaze at the Norwich Apartments left seven children dead.

Jerome and Erica Patterson clung Monday to the chain link fence securing what was left of their Woodlands Apartments building.

On the other side lay a foundation filled with wooden planks, foam insulation, and charred possessions. Mr. Patterson spotted his shoes on a shelf in the rubble.

“I’m glad to be alive. All of that can be replaced. We can never be replaced,” Mr. Patterson, 27, said.

Woodlands’ management provided another residence for Mrs. Patterson’s family, she said. Employees did not return a call seeking comment.

Fire witnesses described a young man alerting neighbors and multiple children tossed to safety. Reneé Palacios, executive director for Toledo’s Family House shelter, said her son is a classmate of one of those children.

Ms. Palacios is collecting clothes and shoes for that family. She said additional residents will likely come to the shelter as short-term housing ends. Family House is accepting additional donated goods for them as well.

“Let’s work together as a community to support them and give them the best chance given this tragedy,” Ms. Palacios said.

Contact Ryan Dunn at: rdunn@theblade.com, 419-724-6095, or on Twitter @rdunnblade.

First Published January 17, 2017, 5:00 a.m.