Fire officials warn of security bar dangers

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, April 1, 2003 | 11:01 a.m.

The three generations of a family that lived on Luning Way in Las Vegas were well protected from criminals, as they had security bars covering their windows -- but fire officials said they were not protected from fire.

The house didn't appear to have any smoke detectors, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said. And the security bars that were meant to keep intruders out wouldn't open, trapping the residents inside the flame- and smoke-filled house.

Authorities said it's particularly tragic because the bars could have been easily repaired so that they would have opened. Or they could have been replaced through a program that pays for low-income families to remove unsafe bars and install those that have working emergency releases.

Instead, three women, a 14-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl had to be taken to University Medical Center to be treated for smoke inhalation after the fire Monday.

A woman, identified as Gertrude Adamson, 53, died from her injuries Monday at 10:40 p.m. The Clark County Coroner's office was expected to determine cause of death later today.

A 38-year-old woman, identified by neighbors as Adamson's daughter, Janice Auster, and a 47-year-old woman who was not named were in serious condition. The girl, believed to be Auster's daughter Ta'sharie, was in fair condition and the boy, believed to be Auster's nephew Anthony, was in serious condition.

The fire was ruled accidental. A pot of food that had been left unattended on the electric stove in the kitchen wound up nearly killing the residents and caused $100,000 in property damage.

The amount of damage and the severity of the injuries could have been minimized, Szymanski said.

"We have these fires every single day in this town, and most of the time they aren't serious," he said.

Everyone should make sure they have working smoke detectors in their homes, plan emergency escape routes and practice escaping from the home.

"If they had done that, they would have discovered that the emergency window latch didn't work and they could have gone to Home Depot and gotten a new one for a dollar," Szymanski said.

This isn't the first time metal security bars have trapped residents inside burning homes.

Roosevelt Jones, 71, died in January 2001 when he couldn't get out of his burning home. The windows of his home had wrought iron bars that lacked a safety release. After Jones' death a nonprofit housing agency began offering to replace unsafe bars with ones that have working emergency releases on them.

Bruce Crane, executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services, said six residents have gotten new window bars through the Safe Home program in the past two years. Four names are on a waiting list, but the program was temporarily suspended.

"We have the grant funds available, but we just need to find a (new) contractor to do the work," Crane said, adding that he hopes to find someone within the next few weeks.

While most of the homes with unsafe or inoperable bars are older, some are newer, according to Gary Coles, who is on the board of directors of Neighborhood Housing Services.

The home that burned Monday morning is more than 25 years old.

Instead of being alerted in plenty of time by a smoke detector, one of the women in the house was awakened by smoke about 6:30 a.m., ran down the hall, saw flames in the living room and kitchen and woke up her family, Szymanski said.

They tried to escape through a bedroom window, but the bars kept them trapped for several minutes. The bedroom doors were closed, which bought them some time, Szymanski said.

The bars had an emergency escape latch, but an examination later revealed that the handle was rounded out and wouldn't turn the locking device, he said.

Neighbors and construction workers who happened to be in the area used tools to remove the bars. When firefighters arrived, one of the women was out of the house. Firefighters crawled through the window and brought out another woman and the two children.

The victims then told firefighters that a grandmother, Adamson, was still inside, in a back bedroom. Firefighters cut a set of bars and found her unconscious on a bed in a side bedroom.

The family has been renting the one-story, wood-framed house near Vegas and Rancho drives for 12 years, Szymanski said. The American Red Cross is working to find shelter for the five adults and two children who lived in the house. Two men were not home when the fire occurred.

For more information about Neighborhood Housing Services' Safe Home program, call 649-0998.