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Impact of Emmons apartment fire lives on
Flames from a nearby window force a firefighter to retreat Jan. 13, 2007, during a fire at the Emmons Jr. apartments in downtown Huntington. Fire departments from across the Tri-State were called in to assist fighting the fire, which started around 11 p.m., and to assist in the effort to rescue several people trapped inside.
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HUNTINGTON -- Memories, lessons and lawsuits live on 12 months after a massive fire claimed nine lives and destroyed the Emmons Jr. apartment building.
Firefighters were called to the scene about 11 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007. The Emmons Jr. was part of a two-building apartment complex, located in the 1200 block of 3rd Avenue. Both buildings were eventually demolished.
The tragedy convinced some builders to install sprinkler systems, thicker walls and other fire control devices. It also stressed the need for residents to use smoke detectors and know how to react in case of a fire.
Huntington Fire Lt. John Sang was the first officer on the scene. He hopes that tragic night always will be a reminder of the need for fire prevention and safety. He said fire departments should be viewed like an insurance policy -- you know it's there, but you take measures to limit its use.
"I hope that people who live in buildings like this learn where their safe areas are, and that the landlords have taken the time to make these buildings safer," he said. "They've got building codes and safety codes that are meant to save these people's lives, so we don't have to go in and go over a situation like that again."
Investigators believe the fire started inside apartment No. 103's living room closet. The flames escaped into vertical and horizontal openings in the five-story building. Officials said those openings acted like individual chimneys, thus spreading the fire rapidly throughout.
The apartment building did not have a sprinkler system. The state's fire code didn't require such measures because the building was constructed in 1924 and did not meet the state's definition of a high-rise building.
Two days after the tragedy, Huntington Fire Chief Greg Fuller said he believed a working sprinkler system could have held the fire to one apartment.
"There would probably have been no loss of life," he said this month in recalling his comments from a year ago.
Fuller holds fast to national statistics, which show there has never been a multiple-death fire (an event killing three or more people) in a building that has a properly working sprinkler system.
Sprinkler systems since Emmons
City Fire Marshal Dave Bias said many people inquired about sprinkler systems after the Emmons fire, but those inquiries produced few installation plans.
"Putting in a sprinkler system is a long, drawn-out process," he said. "It may be an issue that they're going to take their sweet time to do it, or they've simply seen the sticker (price) of the whole thing and decided otherwise."
But not all is lost.
Bias estimates that he has approved sprinkler plans for a dozen new construction sites. That includes some property owners who moved forward with sprinklers, despite not being required to do so. He said a recent example was a new bank at 1st Street and 5th Avenue.
Another example is 2460 Rear Collis Avenue. It will be one of four sprinkled residences owned by Palace Properties and local landlord Jeremy Adams. But that residence is different from its sister locations because the fire code does not require a sprinkler system. That didn't deter the building's owner. He estimates the added protection will cost $7,000 to $8,000.
"I think it's definitely a benefit," he said. "Everybody feels much safer. ... This is just an all-around, good idea."
Sprinkler systems are not installed at six of Palace Properties' 10 locations. Adams said the company hopes to sell those buildings and invest their money in sprinkled property elsewhere.
The city also is moving forward with a plan to retrofit four high-rise buildings in the city. The plan hinges on a portion of the National Fire Protection Association code. It requires sprinklers systems for all high-rise buildings.
Bias said that code defines a high-rise as any building six floors or 75 feet high from the ground to the highest occupied floor.
So far, Bias said the Coal Exchange Building, the West Virginia Building, the Prichard Building and the Guaranty Bank Building fit that criteria. Each building is required to meet with a contractor and submit a sprinkler plan for review in February. The city has 90 days to approve each plan.
Next, each building has 12 years to install the sprinkler system. Bias said one-third of the building must be brought into compliance every four years.
Bias said the Fire Department is surveying other buildings throughout Huntington. It will issue additional 12-year sprinkler orders as needed.
"It's the No. 1 line of defense against multiple-death fires," he said.
Other properties are being required to install sprinkler systems as the owner changes the building's use. One example is the former Keen Jewelry building on 9th Street Plaza. Bias said it is being converted from storage space to condominiums. The fire codes require that conversion to include the added safety measures.
Sprinkler systems can be costly, according to local fire service companies. They estimate a system can cost $2 to $2.50 per square foot. Systems can cost twice as much inside of an existing building.
Congress is trying to provide some financial assistance, but the proposed Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act is tied up in House and Senate committees.
The bipartisan bill was reintroduced in February by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. It would allow property owners to recoup sprinkler system costs within five years.
Rockefeller's press secretary, Steven Broderick, said the Senate legislation now has about 15 sponsors, but passing the bill has been difficult. He explained it's an election year, and the Senate is operating in a pay-as-you-go environment. He said Democrats are trying to find some vehicle to move the bill toward passage.
One possibility is attaching it to an education spending bill later this year. Broderick said there are many apartments and dormitories that need sprinklers in college towns, such as Huntington.
"This I think is one area, when it comes to public safety, that there is rare consensus that something has to be done," he said. "Parents want to be able to believe that when they send their kids off to school, they're going to be living in very safe environments. This is one way, though the tax code, that we can help."
Construction matters
Sprinkler systems may be important, but Fuller said a building's construction plays a similar role.
That thought proved true in November. That is when firefighters rescued a woman from the Whitaker West Condominium Complex. It is located near Ritter Park.
The Whitaker West building did not have a sprinkler system, but Fuller said it had a central fire alarm and doors that stopped the fire from spreading. It also was compartmentalized, meaning that it was built in a way that eliminated the chutes and chases that allowed the Emmons fire to spread. The chief said those factors contained the fire to one condo.
Another example was a February fire at the Adams Landing apartments along Virginia Avenue. That building had sprinklers, but Fuller also praised its construction. The fire was contained to one room of the third-floor apartment.
A more recent example occurred this month when one of the Palace Properties locations caught fire at 2411 Collis Ave. Construction of the property was three weeks from completion. It has a sprinkler system inside, but it wasn't hooked up.
Adams said the method of construction salvaged much of the structure. It included a 2-by-6 inch fire wall, sprayed installation and sound board. It also featured half-inch drywall on both sides.
"It contained the fire more to one area," he said.
Bias said he believes building owners may not be installing sprinkler systems, but he believes they are protecting their property by other means. Those include doubling the number of smoke detectors and other items.
Lessons learned for residents
The Emmons Jr. fire also provided many lessons for tenants. The building did not have a central fire alarm, but when smoke detectors sounded Fuller said some reaction was not as many would expect.
"In retrospect, there was a general aura of not knowing what to do when those alarms sounded," he said. "When the fire alarm sounds, you exit the building as quickly as possible. It seems -- with some people -- that did not happen. I believe some people did try to escape and couldn't."
Fuller compared those actions to the slow reaction of shoppers when an alarm sounds at a busy shopping center.
Other problems surfaced at Emmons as well.
In the days following the tragedy, Bias said there appeared to be an adequate number of smoke detectors in areas not torched by fire. The problem was some of the detectors had been taken off the wall. Bias said he found one detector in a sock drawer, another in a kitchen utility drawer and a third under a table in a room that did not need a smoke detector.
Building manager Alex Vence Jr. has said smoke alarms were in every unit as required by law. He explained some larger units had two or three smoke detectors. He said the lease agreement stipulates that the tenant was responsible for replacing the batteries in each detector.
Vence said there was at least four fire extinguishers on every floor of the Emmons Jr. building. He explained a fire service company inspected the extinguishers months earlier. It noted the building only needed two fire extinguishers on each floor.
Bias had said there appeared to be enough emergency lighting inside, along with the required number of fire extinguishers and emergency exit signs.
Memorials planned today
WHAT: The Salvation Army has organized two memorial events related to the Emmons Jr. apartment building fire, which killed nine people Jan. 13, 2007.
WHEN AND WHERE: There will be a memorial service at 11 a.m. inside the Salvation Army Chapel, 1235 3rd Ave. An afternoon ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. next to the lot where the apartment building stood in the 1200 block of 3rd Avenue.
WHO: Salvation Army Maj. Joyce Michaels will speak at both events. She serves as the organization's divisional disaster coordinator in Baltimore.
DEDICATION: The Salvation Army also will dedicate a new mobile disaster canteen, Mullins said. The truck is a mobile feeding unit used by the agency when it responds to local disasters. The older canteen was used in response to the Emmons fire.
