CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The landlord of a Charleston house where a fire killed nine people says she ordered eight smoke detectors installed last fall, but a relative of some of the victims says none were present when his sister and her children moved in.
Delores Shamblin of Mammoth told the Charleston Gazette (http://bit.ly/GVZexC) that a private company installed the detectors in November. She said she turned receipts for the devices over to her insurance agent and registered the property with the Charleston Building Commission around the same time.
Shamblin said she had hired the installation company earlier to inspect the property because she wanted to ensure it met U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development standards. But HUD never inspected the house, said Jeff Knight, chief of operations for the agency’s Charleston office.
Robert Jones-Isabel said there were no smoke detectors in place when his sister, 26-year-old Alisha Carter-Camp, moved in. She bought her own detector, he said, but may not have installed it.
Mayor Danny Jones has said investigators found only one working smoke detector, and it wasn’t properly mounted. State law requires landlords to install smoke detectors near every bedroom in one- and two-family dwellings.
Shamblin contends the tenants must have removed the ones she had installed.
Carter-Camp wasn’t a HUD client. Shamblin said she lowered the rent from $615 to $550 because Carter-Camp was a working, single mother supporting her three children, 8-year-old Keahana Camp, 7-year-old Bryan “B.J.” Timothy Camp and 3-year-old Jeremiah Camp.
Carter-Camp’s two nephews, 3-year-old Elijah Jones and 18-month-old Emanuel Jones, also died in the blaze, along with her boyfriend, Alex Seals, and his twin 3-year-olds, Kiki and Gigi Seals.
Everyone in the house was asleep when the fire began early Saturday.
Carter-Camp’s sister, 24-year-old Latasha Jones-Isabel, was awake and outside smoking a cigarette, but she told authorities the house was engulfed before she could get back inside.
Assistant Fire Chief Bob Sharp said the cause of the fire remained undetermined Wednesday.
A preliminary report could be completed Thursday or Friday, but the official report done with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives won’t be done for 14-35 days
Funeral arrangements were expected to be finalized Wednesday.