NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Residents at an apartment complex in Norfolk got new fire extinguishers following a 10 On Your Side report.
“We just heard the popping, so we ran from the bedroom to the kitchen and the kitchen was ablaze,” said Candy Powell, a resident at Riverpoint near DePaul Medical Center.
It was early 2017 when Powell was frying chicken on her stove for her sister and brother in law in her apartment. “He said where’s your fire extinguisher? I said it’s under the sink. He got it out and he said it ain’t working, it ain’t working!”
The fire extinguisher wasn’t working because it hadn’t been serviced in more than four years, and was part of a product recall.
“It upset me so bad because it could have hurt me, my sister and my brother in law,” Powell said.
Powell’s kitchen ended up with nearly $8,000 worth of damage.
Marian Taylor lives across the hall. Two and half years after her neighbor’s fire, she noticed the fire extinguishers in Riverpoint still hadn’t been serviced.
She let 10 On Your Side know, and we contacted Thalhimer, the property management company. They are providing each tenant with a new fire extinguisher.
“Management is now doing what they should have done, which they were failures on,” Taylor said.
Taylor is glad that people in this complex, many of whom are seniors, can rest easier now.
“I don’t need any accolades or thanks because you guys acted for me.”
Thalhimer says moving forward, local managers will inspect the fire extinguishers every quarter, and the fire extinguisher company will inspect them every year.
