Just days after a deadly fire at the Twin Parks apartment building in the Bronx had
claimed the lives of 17 residents last January, fire officials determined that the blaze was able to sweep through the entire building because of a “chimney effect” created by self-closing doors that failed to close on their own. According to an investigative report in THE CITY, what fire officials were unaware of at the time was that this same issue had been pointed out at a July 2019 state inspection of Twin Parks and another building down the street that was overseen by the same building manager.
THE CITY obtained these documents via the Freedom of Information Law. The information they got shows that over two days July 30-31, 2019, the Homes & Community Renewal (HCR) inspectors performed a required annual check of the 19-story tower at 333 E. 181st Street, the site of the deadly fire, and a six-story building on East 184th Street. Both are called Twin Parks Northwest.
State inspectors looked at tenant files, checked the building finances, observed the exterior and common area conditions and randomly selected 14 apartments in the two buildings for a physical review. The records show that in 10 of the 14 apartments, they found that the front door did “not self-close, adjust door return or spring/hinge.”
Serious Safety Issues
New York City requires that apartment entry doors in multi-unit buildings be equipped with working self-closing doors to prevent exactly what occurred at Twin Parks from happening. Fire officials said the deadly blaze at Twin Parks was sparked by a faulty space heater on a lower floor and then spread through the building because the unit’s self-closing door did not work.
The door was left open and the tenants fled. Another non-working self-closing stairwell door on an upper floor was also wide open, and between the two a kind of vacuum was created that allowed the fire to surge to the upper floors. Almost all of the victims, many of them children, who perished in the fire, suffered smoke inhalation injuries, officials said.
THE CITY found more than 18,000 open self-closing door violations in 10,000 buildings across all five boroughs shortly after the Twin Parks fire. City officials considered three out of four of those violations “immediately hazardous,” and yet, there was no record of repair months after building owners were cited.
Premises Liability Laws
New York City laws also require property owners and/or property managers to provide, install and maintain smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in each unit. The devices should also be maintained and remain in good working order.
When a fire is caused by negligence (carelessness) or a lack of proper maintenance, the property owners and/or property managers may be held liable for the injuries and loss of life that occurs. Injured victims or families of deceased victims can file a premises liability claim against the responsible parties including, but not limited to, the property owner, property manager, maintenance/repair company, etc.
Injured victims in such cases can seek compensation for damages including medical expenses, lost income and benefits, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. Families that have lost loved ones can file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking compensation as well.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a fire or explosion, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys with the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. For over 50 years, our skilled attorneys have established a proven track record of assisting injured victims. One of our clients — a hot water burn victim — secured $750,000 in damages from the property owner and manager.
Our firm also obtained a $985,000 settlement out of a $1 million policy for two people who suffered smoke inhalation injuries because the homeowner did not have smoke detectors installed and the $15,000 that was left on the insurance policy was for a person that we did not represent. Another client recovered $2,500,000 due to a faulty space heater. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/6/13/23165323/faulty-self-closing-doors-twin-parks-fire-cited-inspectors