As the fire quickly spread in Building 12 at the Windsor at Harper’s Crossing apartment complex last Sunday night, third-floor resident Darrel Nagle pulled three different fire alarms. None worked.
Fourteen-year-old Paola Rios also pulled fire alarms in the same building, but nothing happened. Neighbors pulled alarms in the nearby buildings but they didn’t work either, she said.
So residents said they warned neighbors the old-fashioned way — banging on doors and yelling for people to get out.
“We were the only smoke detectors that night,” Nagle said.
Middletown’s fire marshal said the lightning strike that sparked a four-alarm fire that injured seven firefighters and heavily damaged Building 12 also destroyed or damaged the fire alarm warning systems in all the residential buildings in the 377-unit luxury complex off Big Oak Road.
Fire Marshal James McGuire and a Windsor corporate representative confirmed that all the fire alarm systems were fully functional again by Saturday.
Before they were restored, the complex had been relying on what McGuire described as “human smoke detectors” — specially trained, roving security responsible for monitoring the buildings on a 24-hour basis solely to protect against fires.
The measure, called a fire watch, is allowed under the International Fire Code when a building alarm system is not property working, McGuire said.
On Thursday, the special security guards, wearing black T-shirts and using marked patrol cars, were seen throughout the complex. Windsor Management, the company that owns the complex, also posted notices on apartment building entrances and bulletin boards telling residents that a “fire watch” is in effect until further notice.
ALARMING SITUATION
A post-fire inspection found that the circuit panels in eight residential buildings where the fire alarm systems were destroyed showed clear indications of a lightning-related electric surge, McGuire said.
In six residential buildings, McGuire found the alarm systems were damaged — they did not automatically dial 911 as required — but the warning horns and strobe lights worked when activated. Residents in those buildings were sent notices Wednesday telling them in the event of fire to call 911 directly for the immediate future.
Harper’s Woods has no history of fire code violations or electrical problems in its annual fire safety inspections, McGuire said. Middletown conducted its scheduled inspection at the complex 10 days before the fire and all the alarm systems were functioning at that time, McGuire said last week. No outstanding problems were listed in the annual safety report that the complex’s alarm contractor is required to file with the township.
The lone problem was in Building 12, which showed a “trouble alarm” during the inspection prior to the fire, and the complex was sent a notice to repair it, McGuire said. Fire inspectors found the same “trouble alert” problem in the 2011 inspection, but it was fixed, McGuire said.
Robert Farrington, senior vice president of the Boston-based General Investment & Development Companies, the apartment complex’s owner, confirmed that management received a notice July 9 to fix a defective fire panel red light, but the repairs had not been made at the time of the fire.
Typically, business owners have 30 days to fix a problem, which is the timetable that most municipalities use, McGuire said. After 15 days, McGuire said his office calls businesses to see where they are in the repair process.
But McGuire last week said that based on his post-fire investigation, he believes the lightning strike --– not the trouble alarm — is the reason the Building 12 alarm did not activate. He added that a trouble alarm signal can be triggered for minor reasons, such as wet wiring or a dead battery, and typically there are other indications when a fire alarm is dead.
“Without a doubt the fire alarm systems that are not working now are because of the lightning strike,” McGuire added.
‘HARD TO BELIEVE’
In his career, McGuire said he has seen residential blocks of 12 separate homes experience electrical outages and surges following a lightning strike.
Indirect damage from a lightning strike can happen when the current passes through or near it, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The electric current might enter a building and transfer through wires or plumbing and damage everything in its path.
Similarly, in more densely developed areas, lightning might strike a pole or tree and the current then travels to nearby houses and other structures and enters them through wiring or plumbing, according to NOAA.
While electrical systems must be properly grounded, there is no requirement that buildings such as the ones at Harper’s Crossing have some kind of grounding system to guard against fires caused by lightning strikes, McGuire said.
On Friday, Farrington, the Windsor rep, said that 16 of the 29 tenants in Building 12 — which has been deemed uninhabitable — have relocated to other apartments on the complex.
Rachel Rios — Paola’s mother — is staying with a neighbor in another building at the complex. While moving items out of her second-floor apartment recently, she said the non-working fire alarms concern her.
Several residents had no complaints about faulty fire alarms before Sunday, and some didn’t even know the alarms were equipped to notify 911.
But most found it difficult to believe that a lightning strike to one building could damage fire alarm systems in other, separate buildings.
“That’s a bunch of crap,” said Tess Brown, whose second-floor apartment was heavily damaged in the fire. “I find that hard to believe.”
Brown, who is hoping to move into another three-bedroom apartment in the complex, expressed uneasiness about the use of so-called human smoke-detectors until the fire alarm system is functional again.
“If they are sitting in a car watching the building, how will they know if there is a fire until it’s too late?”
Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181;
email: jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com;
Twitter: @jociavaglia
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