URBANA – Abbas Kazemi said after a young woman died from injuries she received in a rental home he owns, it took him months to go back in the house.

"It's been a very, very heartbreaking situation for me," said the Champaign man.

Kazemi owns the house at 814 W. Stoughton St., U, where a May 28 fire swept through while several young people slept.

University of Illinois police Officer Matt Ballinger was driving by on his way to an assignment about 4:30 a.m. when he saw the front porch ablaze and the flames moving fast toward the inside of the two-story home.

Figuring there were probably people sleeping, Ballinger forced his way in, began yelling and got several people out safely.

Ashley Ames, 23, was asleep in a second-floor bedroom above the porch and didn't make it out. Burned severely, she died about five weeks later in the burn unit at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield.

Firefighters determined that smoking materials that weren't put out sparked a fire in a couch that was on the front porch.

The fire led Urbana council members to pass a law less than a month after the fire, banning indoor furniture outdoors. The house had working smoke detectors but because the fire started on the outside, they didn't sound as early as they might have had the fire started inside.

Kazemi said it was only Thursday that he was able to go back into the house.

"Psychologically, I couldn't do it," he said of stepping inside the home.

But he'll be stepping into a new home soon.

Kazemi said he plans to rebuild the house and continue to rent it. Trademark Homes of Savoy is doing the work.

Kazemi said he's not sure how old the house was but said he's owned it since the winter of 1995. The structure was insured for $145,000, he said, and he's been told the reconstruction can be done for about $150,000.

City inspectors told him that despite the heavy damage caused by the fire, the foundation was still sound, leading to his decision to refurbish, rather than tear it down and start over.

Workers spent the month of August gutting the house and are now turning their attention to rebuilding. Kazemi said it should be done by the end of November and he intends to rent it out.

As a landlord, Kazemi had insurance on only the structure. He said he advises his tenants to have renters insurance for the contents.