TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Housing Authority is now working shortly to take over management of an inexpensive housing complex after a carbon monoxide leak from turbines working inside all night time despatched a minimum of two folks to the hospital earlier this 12 months.
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Carbon monoxide, often called “the silent killer,” is a colorless, odorless, tasteless fuel.
The replace comes after the ABC Action News I-Team found a kind of folks, 79-year-old Rafael Santiago, died from carbon monoxide toxicity. His son, Rafael Santiago-Bailey, is now combating for accountability.
“He introduced laughter when there was disappointment, on a regular basis,” Santiago-Bailey told the I-Team. “I misplaced somebody pricey to me.”
Tampa Fire Rescue records show on March 17, there was a small kitchen fire at The Oaks at Riverview in the unit above Santiago’s apartment. The sprinklers went off and when fire crews arrived, they found water flowing from the third floor. Restoration company Spauling Decon responded to dry out the building and placed generators inside on the first floor and on the third floor balcony. The fire marshal said the generators were left on and running directly above and below Santiago’s apartment.
“So what you ended up having was a fuel chamber for poor Mr. Santiago on the second flooring,” Joseph Alvarez, one of Santiago-Bailey’s attorneys said. “It simply would not make any sense to me.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says:
- Never run a motorized vehicle, generator, strain washer, or any gasoline-powered engine lower than 20 ft from an open window, door, or vent the place exhaust can vent into an enclosed space.
- Never run a generator, strain washer, or any gasoline-powered engine inside a basement, storage, or different enclosed construction, even when the doorways or home windows are open.
Uncovering the risks of carbon monoxide
The hearth marshal instructed ABC Action News — that is not what occurred. Instead, the turbines had been inside, working “all night.” The incident was dominated “accidental.”
“He was given an incredibly large dose of carbon monoxide poisoning for hours upon hours overnight,” Santiago-Bailey’s other attorney Bill Gower said.
Santiago-Bailey lives in Mississippi and said he tried to reach his father at The Oaks at Riverview.
“I didn’t hear from him and I started calling and nobody would give me answers,” he said. “I drove 10 hours just to find out where he was exactly and — I found him.”
Santiago-Bailey discovered his father in a hospital and instructed the I-Team he was within the worst situation he’d ever seen.
“Hooked up to machines, he was intubated for a while, he couldn’t talk, he just stared agaze. It was terrible,” he stated.
Hospital data verify Santiago had carbon monoxide poisoning and “had not followed any commands.”
“The doctors said, ‘He’ll never change.’ He would never ever be the same again,” Santiago-Bailey said.
His father died May 10 of carbon monoxide toxicity, 54 days after the carbon monoxide leak.
Damaris Sanchez was friends with Santiago. She was visiting her mother, who lives at The Oaks at Riverview in Santiago’s building, the night of the carbon monoxide leak. Isabel Nieves, who is 89 years old and has dementia, was taken to the hospital that night and Sanchez said, spent two weeks there.
Hospital records state she “was found not to have carbon monoxide poisoning” but her daughter, Sanchez, is convinced she was impacted.
When asked if anyone from the apartment complex or owners contacted her family after the carbon monoxide leak, she said, “I don’t see nobody here. Nobody. Nobody coming to ask if my mom is ok, nada. Nothing.”
“All we’re speaking about right here is Tampa Housing Authority and the those that Tampa Housing Authority does enterprise with, chooses to do enterprise with. And so if the folks of this neighborhood can say, you understand, this isn’t acceptable, and demand that there’s motion taken, then we are able to stop one thing like this from occurring once more,” Gower stated.
When requested what he would need his father to know, Santiago-Bailey stated, “He knows. He knows I’m going to take care of him. And I’m going to make sure that this gets taken care of.”
Gower and Alvarez despatched a requirement letter, naming the restoration firm Spauling Decon and Edgewood Management. They additionally despatched a discover to the Tampa Housing Authority of their intent to file go well with.
The Tampa Housing Authority instructed the I-Team it owns the land, which is mirrored in Hillsborough County data, however stated Urban Atlantic is the property proprietor, that they personal the buildings. Urban Atlantic is a improvement and funding firm based mostly in Maryland.
Alvarez and Gower stated they plan to file go well with “very soon.”
“It’s not adequate for you simply to say okay, nicely we handed it over to this property administration firm and it’s their duty at that stage,” Alvarez said.
Urban Atlantic, Edgewood Management and Spaulding Decon have yet to respond to phone calls and messages the I-Team sent over several weeks.
Tampa Housing Authority Statement:
“Along with the City of Tampa Code Enforcement, the Tampa Housing Authority remains very concerned about the maintenance, health, and overall welfare issues facing the residents at Oaks of Riverview. Although it is easy to assume that Tampa Housing Authority should be handling this matter, we do not own or manage this community.
Rather, Urban Atlantic simply has a ground lease with THA which ensures that rent affordability standards will continue to be met. Unfortunately, the ground lease does not give THA the legal authority to enter Urban Atlantic’s community or apartments to appropriately address this problem. That said, we have made frequent and urgent calls for Urban Atlantic to address these egregious issues, and we are appalled that they have chosen to ignore us and allow the situation to not only continue but worsen.
Tampa Housing Authority has begun discussions to buy the property from Urban Atlantic to put a halt to these unconscionable matters and to bring the property up to the standard that every resident should enjoy and expect. We are moving through these negotiations as quickly as possible and will hopefully have this property under THA ownership in the very near future.”