Albany apartment complex tenants demand change following electrical fire
After an electrical fire at an Albany apartment complex last week, residents are asking management to take responsibility.
On Saturday, flames ripped through the Tivoli Park Apartment Complex on Livingston Avenue, and water from the sprinkler system drenched several of the homes.
Ruled an electrical fire, some residents, including Patrice Edwards, say the fire was preventable.
“They just tried to do a cover for themselves by sending us an email after the fire and to state that we are probably emitting too much power through our electronics with simple extension cords, too many of them. And to my disclaimer is with my neighbor, her fire didn't start with the extension cord itself,” Edwards said. “It was a whole other entire plug. So that's, you know, admissible, not admissible for her to blame her for that fire. That's not her fault.”
Edwards, who says her apartment is soaking wet, was putting her two daughters to bed when she heard fire engine sirens and thought nothing of it. She said it was only when she heard banging on the front door, up a short flight of stairs from her apartment, that she took to the halls to alert her neighbors.
“I start banging on the walls, banging on the doors, having all my neighbors open and evacuate, please. Get out. Everyone. Get out. I looked up. There was smoke. She said my house was on fire, with tears in her eyes. I got my family, got us out of the house safely,” Edwards said.
Edwards was given access to a different apartment on Sunday, but says management wasn’t quick enough to respond and showed no sympathy for impacted residents.
Opus Management, the company that owns the property, did not respond to WAMC’s request for comment.
Following the fire, Albany’s code department issued several violations, citing damaged apartments unfit for living as a result of the fire and water damage. The out-of-state management group has until August 26th to remedy the violations.
The resident of the apartment where the fire started says a lack of outlets in the unit resulted in residents using several extension cords throughout their homes. The woman, who did not want to be named, says she had an air conditioner, Wi-Fi router, and a TV plugged into one extension cord near her bed.
Utility National Grid says customers should avoid overloading a home’s electricity circuits and check the fuse or breaker panel to determine capacity before plugging in any appliance. National Grid says users should not double-up extension cords or power strips and should check user manuals for any appliance before plugging it in.
But the buildings’ electrical paneling is not the residents’ only concern. Christopher Francis has lived in the complex for about four years. He says rodents and a lack of maintenance workers are concerning. Francis spoke with WAMC following a United Tenants of Albany (UTA) event Friday calling for change and support from complex management.
“They don't really spend the money to take care of their property. They do the bare minimum here,” Francis said.
Francis was the first tenant to reach out to UTA to organize his fellow tenants in a call for change, noting his stove is plugged into an extension cord. He says he now feels slighted by management.
“When I put in a maintenance request, it takes a little bit longer to get a maintenance over there. The response time is a little more lagged,” Francis said.
“Then it used to be?”
“Than it used to be, yeah,” Francis said. “And “That's where I feel like, okay, well, we know about your tenant union, so we're going to retaliate in a very under the table type of way, you know, and I understand we're not fully staffed here,” Francis said. “We're not, there's not a whole bunch of tenants living in the property. So, the response time, it shouldn't be like a snap of a hand, but it should be within 24 hours, 24-48 hours, you know, a decent response time.”
