Thank you Lyz for writing about this! My son lived in that building for one year in 2018 and it wrenches my heart to hear that folks are still missing. The billionaires have all the money and landlords continue to not spend on safety...and it is uncertain for residents to even get their security deposits back...radio silence from the landlord and the newly homeless are in a difficult housing market! Grrrrrr.....
The first reports from this fire at a four-story housing complex for senior citizens told how dozens of Marines from Washington's Navy Yard nearby sprinted over and carried residents to safety—a heartwarming story. Then this report surfaced about how a resident was discovered five days later, in bad shape, trapped when the heat of the fire caused his door to swell shut. No blame to those excellent Marines—company officials had claimed all residents were accounted for. Those same officials had also disabled the building's fire alarm, and overlooked other lapses in building safety. https://wtop.com/dc/2019/08/man-trapped-in-apartment-after-fire-gutted-dc-senior-center-files-3m-lawsuit/
It doesn't seem tenants have any rights or protections. And when the city fines the owner $300 for something like this? It's obvious they are unwilling to hold property owners to account. It's unclear how many LLCs Andrew Wold has (the one listed for the collapsed building doesn't bear his name), but he owns 20+ properties in Davenport. Seems he went on quite a shopping spree around 2019. How can there be such a clear lack of oversight?
Thanks for putting this building collapse in the larger context of climate change. And also for recognizing the tenacity of family members of those who remain missing and community members who stood strong against a quick demolition. And as for the cousin of the guy possibly trapped in the rubble saying to give up the search? What the hell? How does some random relative get to decide it’s ok to prematurely give up a plausible search for survivors? And the press is acting like it’s ok for her to speak on his behalf? All the nopes!
During the press conference, someone asked the name of the other missing person and no officials present knew his name. The white victim has a family member speaking and no one made the effort to know the POC victim's name.
Thanks for writing about this. I hadn’t heard about it but it’s infuriating. Unfortunately I think you’re correct that we’re going to be seeing more of this in the future and it’s scary as housing feels so precarious as it is.
I was intermediately suspicious when the governor offered help to Davenport less than 48 hours after collapse. Since when does this republican governor offer to help any Democratic official?
When the building owner is an official of Iowa. I believe it was channel 6 that reported, only once, that he's in charge of some housing department of the state. Likely appointed by Reynolds....
Want to bet he's a noteworthy contributor to her campaign?
Task Force 1 USAR, one of FEMA’s Urban Search and Recovery teams, arrived in Davenport today, June 1. They were not requested until May 31. (IKR?!) Now it feels like the grownups have arrived. My battered Quad City heart feels just a wee bit lighter tonight.
Thank you Lyz for writing about this! My son lived in that building for one year in 2018 and it wrenches my heart to hear that folks are still missing. The billionaires have all the money and landlords continue to not spend on safety...and it is uncertain for residents to even get their security deposits back...radio silence from the landlord and the newly homeless are in a difficult housing market! Grrrrrr.....
The current ruble is a tomb right now.
And it is always the most vulnerable people that our society is most willing to sacrifice.
A more true sentence has not been written.
Thank you for this
I just read on WQAD News that the building owner was fined $300 (plus $95) in court fees for “failure to keep apartments safe.”
I have no clean words for that.
The first reports from this fire at a four-story housing complex for senior citizens told how dozens of Marines from Washington's Navy Yard nearby sprinted over and carried residents to safety—a heartwarming story. Then this report surfaced about how a resident was discovered five days later, in bad shape, trapped when the heat of the fire caused his door to swell shut. No blame to those excellent Marines—company officials had claimed all residents were accounted for. Those same officials had also disabled the building's fire alarm, and overlooked other lapses in building safety. https://wtop.com/dc/2019/08/man-trapped-in-apartment-after-fire-gutted-dc-senior-center-files-3m-lawsuit/
It doesn't seem tenants have any rights or protections. And when the city fines the owner $300 for something like this? It's obvious they are unwilling to hold property owners to account. It's unclear how many LLCs Andrew Wold has (the one listed for the collapsed building doesn't bear his name), but he owns 20+ properties in Davenport. Seems he went on quite a shopping spree around 2019. How can there be such a clear lack of oversight?
Thanks for putting this building collapse in the larger context of climate change. And also for recognizing the tenacity of family members of those who remain missing and community members who stood strong against a quick demolition. And as for the cousin of the guy possibly trapped in the rubble saying to give up the search? What the hell? How does some random relative get to decide it’s ok to prematurely give up a plausible search for survivors? And the press is acting like it’s ok for her to speak on his behalf? All the nopes!
Another excellent column, Lyz. The Davenport story is horrific -- from all angles.
The minute I saw this, I hoped you would write about it. Thanks b
During the press conference, someone asked the name of the other missing person and no officials present knew his name. The white victim has a family member speaking and no one made the effort to know the POC victim's name.
Thanks for writing about this. I hadn’t heard about it but it’s infuriating. Unfortunately I think you’re correct that we’re going to be seeing more of this in the future and it’s scary as housing feels so precarious as it is.
Thank you - this was predictably infuriating
Thanks for this, Lyz.
I was intermediately suspicious when the governor offered help to Davenport less than 48 hours after collapse. Since when does this republican governor offer to help any Democratic official?
When the building owner is an official of Iowa. I believe it was channel 6 that reported, only once, that he's in charge of some housing department of the state. Likely appointed by Reynolds....
Want to bet he's a noteworthy contributor to her campaign?
Task Force 1 USAR, one of FEMA’s Urban Search and Recovery teams, arrived in Davenport today, June 1. They were not requested until May 31. (IKR?!) Now it feels like the grownups have arrived. My battered Quad City heart feels just a wee bit lighter tonight.
This is horrifying.
QC Times links seem to require subscription