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Latest blaze at troubled apartment complex ruled arson

Tampa Fire Rescue

A three-alarm fire was reported Monday morning at the Waterman's Crossing apartment complex, 4515 N. Rome Ave., in Tampa.

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By NEIL JOHNSON and KEITH MORELLI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 3, 2009

Updated: 08/03/2009 04:41 pm

TAMPA - A fire that raged through an apartment complex building this morning was arson, investigators said, the second in less than a month at Waterman's Crossing.

The fire started in a vacant apartment next to an empty apartment where another fire was intentionally set July 9.

Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said he did not know whether there's a connection between the two fires.

The latest blaze caused much more damage, estimated at $500,000, and left 18 units destroyed or damaged and more than 50 residents displaced, Wade said. No injuries were reported.

The American Red Cross reported it had helped provided food and clothing to 15 families.

Immediately after the fire, frustrated residents complained the alarm systems failed.

But a maintenance worker who ran through the burning building banging on doors to rouse residents and pulling alarms said the alarms did work. A city code enforcement officer confirmed the alarms were working in the complex's common areas.

Firefighters needed about 45 minutes to knock down the worst of the flames at the complex at 4514 N. Rome Ave., just north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The alarm came in at 8:20 a.m.

Flames were showing through the roof of a three-story building, leaping 50 feet into the air, when the first of about 60 firefighters and 20 pieces of equipment responded to what became a three-alarm fire, Wade said.

Wade said the fire was in Building G, which has 36 apartments, 25 of which were occupied. Apartment managers and the American Red Cross are working to find housing for displaced residents.

Four units were a total loss, two others had smoke and fire damage and 14 more had water damage.

The roof of an adjacent building had heat and fire damage, but firefighters arrived just in time to keep the building from catching fire, Wade said.

"We knocked on doors and made sure everybody got out," maintenance worker Jerry Thompson said. "The alarms went off and that helped."

But two residents said they didn't hear alarms.

"I was in bed asleep," said Kentral Sampson, who moved into the complex in February. She said her sister woke her and told her there was a fire in their building. "There was no alarm at all.

"My whole apartment is caved in," she said. "I work hard. I'm pretty sure I lost everything. I have nothing left at all."

Priscilla Carrodegua also lives in the building.

"The fire alarms didn't go off," she said.

A fire at the complex in September revealed numerous violations, including many apartments without working smoke alarms and holes in firewalls between apartments. That fire was caused by a candle that was knocked over.

The complex hired fire inspectors to work at night and alert residents if a fire broke out until repairs were made, a step also taken in 2007 when the complex faced similar problems.

There also was a fire in November caused by an electrical short that caused about $20,000 damage to a vacant unit.

The most recent fire marshal's inspection, on Dec. 30, found no fire code violations.

The fire in July, also ruled arson, caused about $25,000 damage. Previous code violations had been fixed and smoke alarms were working at the time, officials said.

City code enforcement officer Jack Ciucio said none of the open code enforcement cases at Waterman's Crossing involves fire safety. There are some open complaints about issues such as leaks and toilets.

"They are normal apartment problems," Ciucio said.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731.

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