Texas Senior Apartment Fire Claims Sixth Victim

Another resident of a high-rise senior living complex in Castle Hills died on Tuesday, two days after a fire there claimed the lives of five others.

The woman, 71, was not in a hospital but instead was staying at the Courtyard Marriott hotel where several displaced residents are being housed temporarily, authorities said. Her name was not immediately released by the medical examiner, pending notification of her family, nor was her official cause of death.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Castle Hills City Manager Diane Pfeil stopped short of saying whether the death was connected to the fire that gutted the third floor of the 11-story Wedgwood Senior Living building.

“We have received a preliminary report of a sixth death possibly associated with the incident,” she said.

The suspected cause of the blaze, which is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives alongside the Bexar County Fire Marshal’s Office, has also not yet been released.

The Sunday fire comes six months after 11 current and former residents filed suit against the building operators, taking issue with the quality of life there — including allegations from one woman that she had mold spoors in her lungs and bird feces in her blood as a result of living there.

“We haven’t done discovery to the point where we have all the facts, but our clients tell us there was a significant amount of bird poop in the hallways,” said Brian Trenz, one of their attorneys. “What our clients told us that their doctors told them is that you get (feces in the bloodstream) when you drink water or breathe in air where there’s a lot of bird poop.”

Management for the complex in the 6700 block of Blanco Road has not returned repeated requests for comment in the days since the fire. In a court-filed response, the defendants denied the lawsuit allegations.

“Because that case is in active litigation, I can’t comment on that,” said lawyer Mark Macias, whose firm is defending Wedgwood Senior Apartments LLP and Bellamar Texas LLC.

In addition to the 71-year-old who died Tuesday, three others who died remain unnamed by authorities pending notification of their families. The medical examiner on Monday released the names of Jose O. Gonzales, 73, who lived next to Apartment 302, where the fire is believed to have started, and Karen Rae Betz, 74, who lived in Apartment 701.

Gonzales died from smoke inhalation with heart disease a possible contributing factor and Betz died from smoke asphyxiation, according to the medical examiner.

Pfeil, the city manager, said 17 residents remained hospitalized for injuries related to the fire, and officials are still trying to make contact with 37 who have not yet been accounted for. Many residents were away from the complex for the holidays, she said, encouraging anyone who has yet to do so to contact the city at (210) 342-2341.

Wellness checks for all those displaced will be conducted on Wednesday, she said.

“We’re a very strong community,” Pfeil added, explaining that hundreds have phoned in to ask how to help and many have dropped off donations of clothes and cash at City Hall to be distributed to the displaced residents. “We’ve all stepped up to the plate. We’re rockin’ and rollin’ as usual and the city is running smoothly.”

The building was built in 1965 and had no fire sprinkler system throughout 11 stories of residences — only in the complex’s basement. Building codes adopted by the city in 2012 required sprinkler systems, but the complex was grandfathered in and wasn’t required to add them unless it underwent major renovations, said Castle Hills Fire Chief Jerry Riedel.

A cause of the fire should be released soon, said Laura Jesse, spokeswoman for the Bexar County Fire Marshal.

“They cleared the scene (Monday) and finished their investigation on scene,” she explained. “Now it’s on to interviews with witnesses to prove or disprove their hypotheses about how and where it started. They were hoping to finish those up today.”

City officials said Tuesday they had been in close contact with the company that runs the high-rise. By noon on Wednesday, they said, all medications scavenged from apartments that are still being distributed at City Hall will be handed over to Wedgwood management for distribution. Fifteen pets, including a blue canary, have also been rescued from the high-rise.

Authorities offered no timeline for when residents would be able to return home, citing the need for building inspections, air quality tests and renovations before that would be a possibility. Officials also wouldn’t say whether residents would be allowed to move back in without sprinklers being installed.

“We will strongly suggest that they take it all the way,” Mayor Tim Howell said. “We will strongly suggest that they go above the code, if that’s what’s needed.”

The lawsuit, meanwhile, remains pending in state district court.

Irma Smith, the lead plaintiff, alleges that in early 2013 she noticed there was a mold problem in her apartment, according to the suit. She had seen mold around her unit at the apartment complex and had begun to experience respiratory problems, which eventually led to a respiratory infection, the suit contends.

In March 2013, she went to the doctor and tests confirmed the presence of mold spoors in her lungs and bird feces in her blood, the suit said. According to the suit and the plaintiffs’ lawyers, 10 others experienced similar problems and some of them had complained to management. Some suspect the bird feces may have seeped in through a crack in a large cistern that sits atop the distinct building.

A former resident who asked not to be identified said Tuesday that the Wedgwood basement flooded almost two years ago — when the building had a different owner — and the water remained there for a month or more, resulting in mold throughout the building. It was later covered up cosmetically, but without remediation, she said.

In addition to the cistern, pigeons had made their way into the elevator shaft and stairways, with feathers and feces often seen, she alleged. The woman, who said she paid about $1,200 per month for a 700-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment, moved out last year.

In September, the high-rise’s operators became a plaintiffs in another suit in which they argued that the Bexar County Appraisal District’s $17 million valuation of the building was “in excess of fair market value.”

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