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Over 100 elderly people displaced following high rise fire; trace amounts of asbestos found

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A three-alarm fire has forced residents to evacuate their homes early Monday morning.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A three-alarm fire has forced residents to evacuate their homes early Monday morning. During the clean up process in the days following, trace amounts of asbestos was found, delaying the return of residents.

The fire happened in the 3400 block of Philips Highway. According to Tom Francis of JFRD, more than 100 people were evacuated due to the fire, many of the residents have medical needs.

People who were in the apartment building said that the sprinkler systems did go off, however, the fire alarms never sounded. The Fire Marshal will have to investigate whether the fire alarms went off as they should have, however JFRD said none of their firefighters on scene heard the alarms either.

According to JFRD inspection reports, the building's fire pump and/or sprinkler systems weren't performing as they should during a routine October 24 inspection.

On December 1, Division Chief and Fire Marshal Kevin Jones sent an email to the management company of the building stating that a "fire watch" would be needed or the tenants would have to evacuate the building until the sprinkler systems were fixed.

A fire watch is a trained person who walks the property looking for signs of fire. Depending on the guidelines for the type of building, a fire watch will walk a building every hour, 30 minutes or 15 minutes. A fire watch is a temporary fix until a sprinkler system is fixed.

First Coast News talked with several frustrated residents who say they're not really anticipating returning as much as they are finding a new permanent place to live.

“I've been crying, my anxiety is way up, I didn't even sleep all night, I stayed out here all night, I just couldn't sleep it was too nerve racking," resident Mark Baker said.

Mark Baker is one of nearly 80 people staying on a cot instead of their apartment off Philips Highway.

“My fiancé doesn't even want to go back and live in that building, why, because she feels that they're not doing their job.”

Baker is already looking.

“Absolutely, I'm not going to renew my lease if I don't have too,” Baker said.

He's not the only one ready to move on, one woman who wanted to remain anonymous, “To get out of there as fast as I can cause of all the danger and unsafeness, it's not a place you want to be. ”

In the days following the fire as the cleanup began, trace amounts of asbestos was found. The management company released a statement:

Ensuring the safety and comfort of our residents is our top priority as we continue to address the situation at our facility. The timeline for residents to return remains in flux, so we have proactively decided to move all residents still in the shelter to local hotel accommodations, many with kitchenette facilities and private bathrooms where their comfort can be ensured while cleanup operations continue. Our full focus remains on minimizing the impact to our residents. We recognize the hardship this situation presents, particularly as we enter the holiday season, and are working to resolve the situation as soon as possible.During the cleanup process, trace amounts of asbestos were discovered at the facility, requiring a different form of cleanup operations be engaged. We have contracted with a licensed asbestos cleanup provider to ensure compliance with all applicable regulations regarding asbestos abatement. The cleanup process will continue aggressively until we are completely satisfied our residents will be safe and comfortable upon return to their homes. In the interim, every resident will have hotel accommodations made available to them should they require it.

Current management has plans to use federal dollars to invest some $32,000 in property upgrades. to each unit starting in January, but some say it's already too late to convince them to stay.

“We should get something back, because we paid our rent and we have to go through this whole humiliation, that's crazy,” resident Barbara Retzer said.

Barbara Retzer's lived at the Townhouse Apartments eleven years and says she's had it seeing management change hands at least three times in four years, she's also ready to move.

“Why did this happen, because somebody didn't take care of what they should've done there.”

She's speaking out in hopes, she sees action against a place that she says shouldn't open until major changes are made.

“We need voices, you know people to help us, not to feel sorry and bad, but to help us, why did they let it get this far, let it happen, you know, that's what I can't understand.

The property was awarded nearly $15 million in low-income housing tax credits through HUD. First Coast News has requested inspections reports on the Jacksonville Townhouse Apartments and are waiting a response.

According to Jacksonville Fire Rescue, the fire started on the 8th floor, and five people were trapped and suffered from smoke inhalation. All of the residents suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

“In the last 10 years, it's probably gone off 30 times. Now when it's real, it didn't go off? I don't understand," said tenant James Harrison.

Cambridge Management, Inc., the Washington-based company that manages the apartment complex, told First Coast news "it is management's understanding that all fire sprinklers and smoke alarms worked as intended."

Additionally, the company said it is "conducting an internal investigation to ensure that fire safety protocols were followed and to identify any instances of non-compliance."

A Red Cross worker at the shelter said there were 116 people using the shelter as of Monday evening and they were told people likely would not be able to return to the apartment complex until Thursday.

The Townhouse Apartments have a contract with HUD for rental assistance. The building has been working with HUD since 1987.

The apartment complex was awarded $15,602,440 in assistance money. It had plans to put around $32,500 into each unit to renovate it beginning January 2018.

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