Relatives of two people who died in a 2000 blaze have sued the owners and managers of the Firdale Village Apartments in Edmonds, alleging negligence for failing to provide "a reasonably safe" facility and an effective fire alarm system.
Billy Joe Clenney, 21, of Edmonds and Jessica Hanks, 20, of Snohomish died in Clenney’s apartment of smoke inhalation. The fire started in his living room and did extensive damage to a 24-unit building of the 389-unit complex on 244th Street SW.
The Dec. 26, 2000, blaze ignited a call by local fire officials and legislators to require owners of older, larger apartment complexes to install automatic sprinkler systems, but efforts thus far have failed.
The lawsuit was filed last week in Snohomish County Superior Court, seeking unspecified damages. Defendants include Equity Residential Properties, a Maryland real estate investment trust. Also sued were ERP Operating Limited Partnership of Illinois and a Japanese corporation, Hochiki.
It alleges the defendants failed "to provide and maintain a reasonably safe premises for its residents and guests." The lawsuit also alleges the apartment’s alarm system was not "in good repair so as to be operational, functional and effective at all times."
State Rep. Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds, 21st District, a Shoreline fire department officer, used the Firdale fire as an example in his effort to make older apartments safer. For two years he led a fight to require owners of older apartment complexes to retrofit them with automatic sprinkler systems designed to extinguish fires before they cause extensive damage or death.
Legislative efforts in 2001 and 2002 failed, partly because of the high cost of adding sprinklers to older buildings.
The Firdale complex was built in 1987 under older county codes that did not require sprinklers. The property was annexed into Edmonds in 1997.
Snohomish County, Edmonds, Everett and other local cities now require sprinklers in the construction of any apartment of five units or more. Snohomish County Fire Marshal Pam Miller and Edmonds Fire Marshal John Westfall testified in favor of Cooper’s plan.
"It’s become an economic issue," Westfall said. Sprinklers are expensive "but it’s insurance against fatalities due to fires."
Miller said newer buildings are safer, and the older ones are vulnerable. Still, it becomes an economic issue.
"There needs to be some sort of incentive built in where we can save lives and do the right thing without bankrupting people," Miller said.
Cooper said the 2004 Legislature is not the time to raise the issue again, partly because any incentives offered to apartment owners would come out of the state treasury.
He favors a tax incentive to encourage sprinkler retrofitting, possibly something similar to grants awarded to boarding homes to install sprinklers in the aftermath of the 1998 Arlington Manor boarding home fire that killed eight women. There were no sprinklers at the home.
About 40 boarding homes took advantage of the state grants to defray the costs of adding sprinklers.
Cooper said money isn’t likely for a new tax incentive. The Legislature will struggle to balance the budget and to pay for education spending,.
"It saddens me that the Legislature has to make choices like that, between good business and public safety," Cooper said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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