Allen Park fire damage extended by water flooding halls, standpipes

Fire wasn't the only thing that caused damage to apartments at Allen Park last week.

Several apartments were damaged by water in a first-floor fire April 16 in Allen Park, 1013 S. Allen St.

Open standpipes, which are located on each floor, caused water to run down the hallways and into residents apartments, said Becki LaPorte (senior-rehabilitative services education), a sixth-floor resident. Not every apartment, however, had water damage.

Alpha Fire Company Chief Steve Triebold said standpipes are like fire hydrants in an apartment building -- they allow firefighters on each floor to attach hoses to a water line. Standpipes are normally in a closed position and are opened by firefighters.

When firefighters pumped water through the standpipes April 16, it went onto the floors and also into the electrical panels, Triebold said.

Standpipes, including those in Allen Park Apartments, are often encased in metal cabinets with locks in order to reduce tampering, said Alpha Fire Company Captain James Brown.

All the standpipe cabinets were locked, said Dave Felice, fire inspector for the Centre Region Code Administration and also a captain with the Alpha Fire Company. Firefighters had to break the locks on all the cabinets with axes to close the standpipes to prevent further water leakage, he said.

There did not appear to be any damage or vandalism to the standpipes which would have resulted in the standpipes being open, Felice said. He did not know why the standpipes were open.

LaPorte, who estimated the damage to her personal belongings at $1,000, said her parents homeowner's insurance will cover the cost. She said she had textbooks, clothes and a collector's movie set ruined.

Another resident on the sixth floor also had extensive damage.

Tammy Kubasko (graduate-electrical engineering) said she had a lot of her own furniture ruined. Kubasko, who estimated the damage to her belongings at $1,200, said her bookshelf, desk, entertainment center, dresser, TV and clothes were ruined by the water.

Unlike LaPorte, Kubasko is not covered under homeowner's insurance. She said she has talked with an apartment manager, who gave her loss report to their insurance company.

Kubasko is not optimistic, she said, because the apartment manager told her that they are not responsible for personal belongings.

The lease for apartment residents states "the landlord maintains general liability and hazard insurance on the Premises . . . however this insurance does not protect the Tenant."

The tenant must obtain renter's insurance to protect personal belongings, according to the lease.

A spokeswoman for Lenwood Corporation, said the building was within all code limits and that it has a great record.

She said the corporation has been dealing with those problems that residents have presented. Residents need to contact the office in order for the corporation to help them, she added.

"We've only had a small handful of people come to us with their problems," she said.

She said because all residents with damage have not contacted the office, the total number of apartments with damage could not be determined.

Some residents, however, had little to no damage from the water.

Tim Knight (sophomore-electrical engineering), a resident on the first floor, said he really didn't have much damage. A few blankets were ruined and his roommate lost a few books, he said.

"I'm out of here in a week," he said. "But if I did have a lot of damage and I was staying for the summer, I'd probably contact the office."