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Some residents of a New Castle apartment complex are raising concerns about the safety of the complex following a recent fire.On Saturday, the fire broke out on the first floor of an eight-unit section of the Oak Leaf Gardens complex on Pin Oak Drive.A 6-year-old girl remains in the hospital after being severely burned in that fire. Fire officials said her grandmother suffered minor smoke inhalation. A GoFundMe page has been started to support her through recovery.A neighbor said the property owner sealed off buildings’ back exits years ago. New Castle Fire Chief Michael Kobbe confirmed that information, but he couldn’t say whether the lack of those back doors on the complex’s various buildings violates code. Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out to New Castle code enforcement as the state fire marshal’s office but did not hear back as of Thursday evening.“There was a door here for an exit that you can get out. They took the door out. They put a sliding window in, then they removed it, and now, as you see, it’s a solid back. No way out,” Mark Druga said.A mother who escaped the fire with her two kids said she believes having that back entrance could have helped her family and neighbors get out faster.“Eight families trying to get out of one door in a panic,” Miranda Hookway said.A GoFundMe page has been started to support Hookway and her children after losing everything in the fire.Hookway said she slid down the steps from the second floor with her two children to escape the fire.“I believe that if they would have kept those doors there, I believe that even my son’s dog would still be here. We would have been able to go. He would have been able to go out both doors. It would have been maybe less smoky to go back in and get her, because I tried and I couldn’t,” Hookway said.Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 has reached out to the property owner to ask about those secondary doors being sealed.HUD consultant Gil Perry said although this complex is privately owned, the property owner is paid tenants’ rent through HUD, so if buildings are not up to code or not maintained properly, HUD has the power to step in.Perry said the property is operating under something called RAD, Rental Assistance Demonstration.“That’s why they call it a demonstration project, RAD, because this is something that they’re trying out to see if it works. It’s not working because nobody is policing the units or the maintenance issues that are occurring and addressing the residents’ issues,” Perry said.Berry is in talks with residents to help them start a resident management board.“Right now, there’s not a voice there. So the property owner is basically doing what they want to do because they know if one individual speaks out, they can remove that voice, and now nobody else is about to speak up. This gives them a resident management. This gives them a group in control of their own destination, and they’re protected, and HUD wants that to happen,” Perry said.Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.
Some residents of a New Castle apartment complex are raising concerns about the safety of the complex following a recent fire.
On Saturday, the fire broke out on the first floor of an eight-unit section of the Oak Leaf Gardens complex on Pin Oak Drive.
A 6-year-old girl remains in the hospital after being severely burned in that fire. Fire officials said her grandmother suffered minor smoke inhalation. A GoFundMe page has been started to support her through recovery.
A neighbor said the property owner sealed off buildings’ back exits years ago. New Castle Fire Chief Michael Kobbe confirmed that information, but he couldn’t say whether the lack of those back doors on the complex’s various buildings violates code.
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out to New Castle code enforcement as the state fire marshal’s office but did not hear back as of Thursday evening.
“There was a door here for an exit that you can get out. They took the door out. They put a sliding window in, then they removed it, and now, as you see, it’s a solid back. No way out,” Mark Druga said.
A mother who escaped the fire with her two kids said she believes having that back entrance could have helped her family and neighbors get out faster.
“Eight families trying to get out of one door in a panic,” Miranda Hookway said.
A GoFundMe page has been started to support Hookway and her children after losing everything in the fire.
Hookway said she slid down the steps from the second floor with her two children to escape the fire.
“I believe that if they would have kept those doors there, I believe that even my son’s dog would still be here. We would have been able to go. He would have been able to go out both doors. It would have been maybe less smoky to go back in and get her, because I tried and I couldn’t,” Hookway said.
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 has reached out to the property owner to ask about those secondary doors being sealed.
HUD consultant Gil Perry said although this complex is privately owned, the property owner is paid tenants’ rent through HUD, so if buildings are not up to code or not maintained properly, HUD has the power to step in.
Perry said the property is operating under something called RAD, Rental Assistance Demonstration.
“That’s why they call it a demonstration project, RAD, because this is something that they’re trying out to see if it works. It’s not working because nobody is policing the units or the maintenance issues that are occurring and addressing the residents’ issues,” Perry said.
Berry is in talks with residents to help them start a resident management board.
“Right now, there’s not a voice there. So the property owner is basically doing what they want to do because they know if one individual speaks out, they can remove that voice, and now nobody else is about to speak up. This gives them a resident management. This gives them a group in control of their own destination, and they’re protected, and HUD wants that to happen,” Perry said.
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