ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Above
CITY OFFICIALS didn't know before the fire that the house lacked required smoke detectors, so it would be unfair to prosecute the landlords now, the building commissioner said.
Roanoke's building commissioner says he won't take legal action against the owners of a Stewart Avenue Southeast house where four children and their grandmother were killed by fire Saturday.
Although there were no smoke detectors in the rental home - a city code violation - Building Commissioner Ronald Miller said the city should not treat this case any differently from others.
``Your emotions want you to strike at something,'' he said. ``But that's not to say the family doesn't need to do whatever they think is necessary.''
Monday, a building inspector said if any action were taken, it most likely would be a civil lawsuit.
Because the city did not know about the smoke detector violation before the fire, Miller said, it would be unfair to take legal action against the owners of the house now.
``We had to ask ourselves today: What do we normally do?'' Miller said. ``We normally cite you, and if you don't comply, then we take action.''
If the city does cite an owner for violating the building code, it gives the owner 21 days to comply. After that, the owner can be taken to court and fined as much as $2,500, Miller said.
The fire in the Stewart Avenue Southeast house killed Patricia Leftwich's mother, 46-year-old Goldie Christine Duncan, and Leftwich's four children: Mark, 6; Clyde, 5; Patrick, 4; and Nancy, 3.
An extension cord connected to an electric space heater caused the fire, which started on the first floor. The victims were trapped in an upstairs room after flames burned through an interior wall and blocked the stairs.
Fire investigators have not determined if the extension cord being used was improper.
Fire Chief Jim Grigsby said a smoke detector in the home could have given the family enough warning to evacuate.
The fire probably smoldered for as long as an hour before it spread, Grigsby said, and could have triggered a smoke alarm.
Building inspectors have condemned the house and will not allow it to be reoccupied until it is brought into compliance with the building code, Miller said.
The house is owned by WTS of Virginia Inc. According to the State Corporation Commission, the directors of WTS are William T. Stone of Roanoke and Rupert J. Richards Jr. of Salem.
Neither returned phone calls Monday and Tuesday to their business, Affordable Real Estate Services in Salem.
There probably are many houses in the city without smoke detectors, Miller said.
Building Inspector David Hatchett said that may be a result of the city's not widely publicizing its 1994 law requiring smoke detectors on every floor of every house.
``We haven't made a public notice'' about the law, Hatchett said.
``I don't think that most homes anywhere have them,'' said Charles R. Carpenter, who owns several houses in Southeast and Southwest Roanoke. ``It's virtually impossible for the city to enforce.''
Building records dating to 1920 do not indicate the house had ever been inspected. The city typically inspects only if a complaint is made.
``In this situation, we had not been on that property since 1988,'' when the city told former owners William Emory and R. Jack Richards Sr. to tear down the garage because it was unsafe, Miller said.
The house apparently violated the building code in other ways.
The lot was zoned for a duplex, but the house apparently had been converted to a triplex. Also, it didn't have a fire wall or a fire separation wall. Those are required in any house converted to a duplex after 1974, Miller said. It is unclear when it was divided, but an attorney that handled a 1978 foreclosure sale said it probably was not a duplex then.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB