Article
Courtesy of The Miami Herald
By
KATHLEEN McGRORY
Published
January 20, 2007
Gail Nova thought it was a false alarm.
But when she looked out the window of her
fourth-story Hallandale Beach apartment, she saw two firefighters down
below. Nova scurried down the stairs and out of the building.
''Once I was outside,
I looked back and I could see the flames,'' said Nova, 60, a
medical technician. ``They were shooting out of the window,
seven or eight feet. It was really intense.''
By noon Friday, the
fire had gutted a third-story apartment, and sent at least
two residents, a city police officer and a fire-rescue
worker to the hospital with minor injuries.
Fire officials said a
sprinkler system would have mitigated the fire.
Like many other older
Broward high-rises, Nova's condo building does not have a
sprinkler system. Property managers have only recently taken
preliminary steps to install one, operations manager Ada
Berger said.
Sprinklers
have been the source of a contentious battle between fire
safety officials and some condo associations. Although state
law mandates all buildings over 75 feet install |
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THIRD-STORY
BLAZE: Flames pour out of a unit at a La Mer condominium
building on State Road A1A in Hallandale Beach as a city
firefighter moves in on a fire ladder.
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sprinkler
systems by 2014, some condo boards say the measure is too expensive and
unnecessary.
''A
sprinkler system would have kept this fire in check,'' said Hallandale
Beach Fire Marshal Miguel Aleman. "We would never have seen something
like this.''
The building
is in the La Mer complex, in the 1800 block of State Road
A1A. The blaze broke out around 7 a.m. in the west tower, in
unit 307, which is occupied by Leonard Weinstein, a retired
doctor, authorities said.
The first
rescue workers pulled Weinstein out of the burning unit. He
was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital and treated for
smoke inhalation.
At least a
half-dozen agencies responded to the scene moments later. By
that time, flames were reaching out Weinstein's large back
window, scorching several nearby palm trees.
Only the
second, third and fourth floors were evacuated -- fire
officials did not deem residents on the other levels to be
at risk. |
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After
Friday's fire, the board of La Mer, a three-building condo on State
Road A1A in Hallandale Beach, shown here, said it will accelerate
plans for a sprinkler system. |
Still, residents like Morris and Rita
Kesselmen left their apartments on higher floors when fire alarms sounded.
''We could smell the smoke from up on the
15th floor,'' said Rita Kesselmen, a 16-year resident of the building.
"Our neighbors told us to get out. We didn't even take anything, we
just ran.''
Concerned the fire might climb up the
exterior of the building, firefighters worked quickly. They entered the
building, dousing the flames from an inside hallway.
''There was very intense heat,'' said
Division Chief James Johnson of Hallandale Beach fire rescue. "Within
minutes, it melted the frame of the window and broke the glass out.''
It took roughly 40 minutes to knock down
the fire, Johnson said.
Firefighters kept the blaze confined to
Weinstein's apartment. Still, at least a dozen other units sustained smoke
and water damage, officials said.
Fire marshals later deemed the fire
accidental.
''We know it was electrical in nature,'' said Andy
Casper, a spokesman for the city of Hallandale Beach. "He may have
had a combustable material like paper near the source of the fire.''
In the aftermath, La Mer plans to speed up its
efforts to install a sprinkler system.
La Mer managers recently purchased a water pump for
each of the three buildings. They have yet to be installed.
''It's very costly, but if it needs to be done,
we'll get it done,'' said Berger. "As far as safety goes, it's
important. And we don't have much of a choice.''
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