We moved in to The Willows in March 2008. Sometimes you never know how ghetto a place can be until you live there. A dear friend of mine lost her house to a kitchen fire that started from hot wings in the wok. This got me thinking. I searched my apartment only to find there is no fire extinguisher anywhere. Not only is there no fire extinguisher in my apartment but there aren’t any mounted in the breezeways or corridors, anywhere. When I confronted the management office it went something like this:
Me: There is no fire extinguisher in my apartment.
Lady: Oh, well, this complex is older and we’ve been grandfather clocked in so the law doesn’t apply to us.
Me: Well, I don’t think that because this complex is old means that it’s at any less of a risk for catching on fire.
Lady: Well, I think it may also be in part due to how close we are to the fire department.
I left there feeling completely unsatisfied with her answers. I moved to Alabama from Florida so I was unaware of the laws with regards to extinguishers, rental properties, etc. So I phoned the Fire Marshall. I filed a complaint and asked that he look into it. He called me back within 3 hours and told me that he came to inspect the property. The complex is in violation of the fire prevention safety regulations. The law as of 2005, states that all residential (R2, I believe is what he called it) buildings (new or existing) must have fire extinguishers within at least 75 feet. Seeing as how there are none, within any amount of feet they are clearly in violation.
So the verdict is that he ordered the complex to purchase 170 fire extinguishers by no later than Thursday, June 19th and that the installation begin ASAP. Every unit will have a 2 1/2lb fire extinguisher installed under their kitchen sink!
I am honestly baffled that I am the first tenant to ever question this or call to complain. Seriously, am I the only one who realizes that fire is dangerous? And as far as the responses I received from the lady in the office – I can’t believe she thought being in close proximity to the fire department was reason enough to overlook a life saving, required by law measure for the tenants here. But she say they were “grandfather clocked in.” That one had me LOL
