Retirement high-rise has limited sprinklers

Operators of the Four Freedoms House, scene of a fatal fire Sunday, say they've frequently discussed installing sprinklers in the seven-story retirement home but the cost has been prohibitive.

"There's always been talk of it [installing sprinklers] but that's of course one of the ideal solutions," said Virginia Merceri, administrator of Four Freedoms House. "However, we are low-income housing. We operate on a very tight budget. We don't have the capital to retrofit."

Sunday's blaze killed one man, whose name has not been released, injured eight other people and caused $800,000 in damage. The Seattle Fire Department on Monday said the fire started after a sixth-floor resident left food unattended on the stove. Just one week earlier, on July 23, fire crews were called out to the building at 747 N. 135th St. for an identical call.

Merceri, who declined to release information about the man who died, said the complex is outfitted with a "state-of-the-art" fire-alarm system. The facility has sprinklers in the boiler room, which was a requirement when it opened 42 years ago.

The Four Freedoms House, part of a Miami-based chain of government-subsidized apartments for the elderly, is not required by law to have sprinklers.

In 1993, sprinklers became a requirement in the city inside all new buildings that are home to nonambulatory and partially ambulatory people, said Alan Justad, spokesman for the city's planning department. In the late 1990s, the city began requiring sprinkler systems for all new construction over three stories in height.

But because of the age of the Four Freedoms facility, the laws did not apply to the apartment complex.

Seattle fire spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said firefighters have been dispatched to three false alarms at the complex since January. However, she wasn't certain how that number compares with other buildings in the city.

She said the fire alarms operated properly during Sunday's blaze.

While staff members at Four Freedoms House do not hold fire drills for residents, they do provide handouts advising what to do in case of a fire, Merceri said.

Four Freedoms House has 310 apartments designated as independent living for those 55 and older, Merceri said. Only 209 units were occupied at the time of the fire.

Residents have the freedom to cook and care for themselves, Merceri said. While some may be receiving assistance from the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), the agency has no say in day-to-day matters. That's because Four Freedoms House is an independent-living facility and not a traditional nursing home where residents receive on-site medical care, according to DSHS.

After the fire broke out at 4:47 p.m. Sunday, several residents were coaxed down rescue ladders to safety, and an 80-year-old man inched his way around the outside of several seventh-floor balconies to escape smoke and flames.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office said Monday that it wouldn't be releasing information about the fire victim because it is searching for relatives.

The Red Cross provided shelter to 22 residents Sunday night, agency spokeswoman Katherine Boury said. It was unclear when they would be able to return home, she said.

Four Freedoms House has been the scene of three other fires since 1993.

In 2001, combustible materials ignited on a stove; no one was seriously injured.

In 1995, an overheated electric blanket sparked a blaze that injured seven and forced residents out into the rain.

In 1993, serial arsonist Paul Keller ignited a blaze that killed three elderly residents and caused $1 million in damage. Keller is serving 99 years in prison for the deaths and for setting more than 75 buildings on fire in King and Snohomish counties.

Information from Seattle Times staff reporter Justin Mayo and news researcher Gene Balk is included in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com