Four killed in Utica fire!

[Ralph]

From the Observer Dispatch:

UTICA — Four people were killed in a Tuesday night house fire at 1138 Whitesboro St., according to city officials. Two victims were found inside the 2-1/2 story house and two died at the hospital, Utica Public Safety Commissioner Daniel LaBella and Utica Fire Chief Russell Brooks said.

Article - www.uticaod.com/homepage/x125183061

OD Pictures Link - www.uticaod.com/multimedia/x1681301479

[Swimmy]

I was just reading that. Apparently it's the deadliest fire in 19 years.

[WestmoGuy]

How sad.

[thelma]

This house was occupied by the homeless, disabled. etc. According to the article, when the first floor two tenants were escaping from the house that was on fire, they also heard an explosion (furnace?) The people that died were all on the Second Floor.

Why wasn't this house fully inspected before allowing this many handicapped people to live there? According to the article, the smoke alarms did NOT go off. I thought that in any multi residence building, smoke alarms had to be hard wired?

[rrogers40]

thelma said:

Why wasn't this house fully inspected before allowing this many handicapped people to live there? According to the article, the smoke alarms did NOT go off. I thought that in any multi residence building, smoke alarms had to be hard wired?

I'm sure they are going to be looking into that but basically- too many slum houses and not enough inspectors.

[thelma]

The next thing will be insurance coverage - I wonder if the owners of this bldg. had the right type of insurance policy (commercial Fire=multi dwlg) or if they only carried a basic Fire policy. It will depend on whether or not the owner of this bldg was completely honest with the ins. company when he took out the policy. If not, they must might deny coverage on this bldg. which is more than likely be declared a total loss.

The reason I bring this up is that my EX-husband was living in an Assisted Living Home due to a massive stroke he had and could not fully take care of himself. This Assisted Living bldg has at least 7 other residents in the same condition as he was. When he comitted suicide by hanging himself, this is when it was found out that the owners of this bldg. only had a homeowners policy on the dwlg - and the ins. company denied ALL liability coverage for their neglect in not supervising him and allowing him to wander unsupervised which lead to him being able to commit suicide,

These types of "assisted living" homes do NOT come under the Health Dept. rules and regulations which many people are not aware of.

[concerned]

What was interesting is that the fire was caused by unattended food on the stove. From the utica od this morning.

The house was also owned by an absentee landlord.

I volunteered for several years for a house that was rented to homeless and those with mental health problems. Why were these people not being supervised? From experience I can tell you that they need much supervision and must be taught the basics in living skills. My heart just falls apart when I read these types of stories that never should have happenned in the first place.

[smiley]

According to the article I read the landlord was not absentee, see below:
From The OD:

Donna Marano of Cold Brook owns the house and two others near it.

She said the people who live in the houses have nowhere else to go, and many of them formerly were homeless.

“I’m just devastated,” she said crying. “I’ve been doing this for 23 years. These people are like family to me.”

A neighbor called her to tell her about the fire, and she rushed to the scene. She said she had been at the house until about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.

The whole situation is very sad!

[concerned]

Maybe I read it wrong. But if she was called and then rushed to the scene then she wasn't there in the first place. She left at 7:15 pm, so I assumed she was headed back to her home in Cold Brook?

[Ralph]

She came back, she always took good care of those places, at least she did when I lived up the street.

The sad part is that they are not really "Assisted Living Facilities" as most would think. They amount to not much more than boarding houses and either no supervision or very minimal supervision is required. You can thank the State for that part.

But she took really good care of the place next door to this one, as well as the people in it that needed care.

This is a true tragedy and a very sad event for everyone concerned.

[Clipper]

Concerned, I may be mistaken, but in reading the OD, I am pretty sure that the reference to food on the stove causing the fire, I think they were referring to the fire at Elwood's cafe building, that killed the girl in the adjacent apartment. She had left food on the stove that started the fire.

The absentee landlord insinuation made by some, I don't think is an accurate description either. The state caused these homes to come into existence, when they started putting their patients on the street, and reducing in-patient facilities.

There have been homes like that all around the Columbia Square and Highlands area for years, as far back as the 70's. They are regulated by the state, however adequate or inadequate those rules and supervision may be.

The majority of patients and former patients, needing constant care and supervision, are assigned to DDSO group homes, supervised and operated by the state and manned by state employees.

The people in homes such as the home that burned, are usually in a setting that is intended to re-adjust them, and prepare them to be in an independent living environment.

With little being known about the facts or the cause of the fire at this point, I would not be quick to condemn the woman that owns the building. Smoke detector batteries are taken out by kids and others, and used to replace batteries in radios and electronic toys. She is not neccessarily guilty of anything.

She was providing a service to the state and others for a price. I don't know the woman, or have an incentive to defend her, other than the premise that we are all innocent until proven guilty. I am sure that there are facilities that are substandard, and run in a slipshod manner, but that hasn't been proven, or even insinuated in this case.

It is evident that there is some suspicion as to the cause of the fire, as they are bringing in a K-9 from the state to investigate the cause and origin of the fire. It could have been set by vandals or someone that doesn't like having the mentally disabled living near them. We don't know, so we should wait until we do, before condemning the lady that owns the building or jumping to conclusions about the circumstances.

Years ago, I lived on Parker St. I ate quite often at the Highland Tower Coffee Shop. It was a hangout for the state patients that lived in the neighborhood. There were a couple of those group homes in the neighborhood, even back in the 70's. The people that ran those homes at the time, were respectable, and treated those patients like their children. They showed genuine concern and took very good care of them. That is why I don't jump to the conclusion that this was a profit driven business to scam the state for money to "keep" these mentally challenged people.

It is very sad that these disabled and challenged people were the victims. It is also sad that the others were "victims" in that they were formerly homeless and are now homeless again. I will be focusing my attention to concern and prayer for the victims, survivors and those affected by the tragedy. That will include the woman that owned the house, until such time as some malfeasance has been shown to prove that she is negligent. She is most likely very grief stricken as she knew and most likely cared about ALL those people affected by the fire.

[Ralph]

Wow Clipper, I used to live on Parker as well....my ex still does! Used to be a nice street, can't say much for it now.

[bobbbiez]

My deepest sympathy and my prayers goes out to all the victim's families and to all others involved.

[dgriffin]

I don't know, of course, but it wouldn't surprise me if the landlord had the best of intentions, along with being in business to turn a profit. If you think of it, one could invest in any kind real estate and hope to make a profit from rents and appreciation. There are honorable and dishonorable reasons to house the unfortunate in our society. We are not necessarily speaking of incompetents who need constant supervision. Many at the bottom of our society can pretty much take care of themselves with some assistance. Landlords rent to them for a number of reasons. Often, the rents are guaranteed by a government agency. The landlord might also consider it altruistic. On the other hand, a slum lord might want tenants who he knows to be incapable of pushing him to keep the premises safe and livable.
Clipper is right. We as yet don't know what the landlord's intentions were. It does seem, however, that we all have some responsibility to be of help to others. I live a good life and I didn't get here entirely on my own efforts. We all got help from somewhere.

[bobbbiez]

Amen to that Dave.