Family Alleges Unsafe Conditions at Durham Property Where Firefighter Andrew Brokes Died

By MES Dispatch Staff

The Briefing

• A woman whose father escaped the Oct. 8 fire in Durham, North Carolina, alleges the property lacked smoke detectors and fire extinguishers and had units without windows, ABC11 reported.
• Durham firefighter Andrew Brokes, 24, died after the building collapsed during the fire.
• Tax records reviewed by the station list two of the property’s buildings as commercial, including one as an auto garage, and a third as a converted dwelling; county zoning lists the property as commercial and a converted dwelling.
• Residents and family members told the station people were living in all three buildings.
• Property owner Admiral Properties LLC had not responded to requests for comment as of Thursday, and the cause of the fire has not been released.

DURHAM, N.C. — The daughter of a man who escaped a fatal Durham fire this week says the property had no visible fire safety equipment and unsafe living conditions, ABC11’s I-Team reported, as records show differing occupancy classifications for the buildings.

Melissa Reyes said she visited her father’s apartment several times and did not see a fire extinguisher, smoke detector or other fire safety measures. She said some units had no windows and that one family had to open a door while cooking to let smoke out. “These are not conditions that families and children should be living in,” Reyes said she told her father.

Firefighter Andrew Brokes, 24, died after the building collapsed during the fire. Reyes said she is grateful her father survived and mourns the firefighter. “He was an angel,” she said.

ABC11 reviewed tax records and found different occupancy classifications for the three buildings on the property: two listed as commercial, including one classified as an auto garage, and a third as a converted dwelling. Durham County zoning records list the entire property as commercial and a converted dwelling. Residents and family members told the station that people were living in all three buildings.

The station contacted the property owner, Admiral Properties LLC, about the living conditions and the classifications, and left a message. The company had not responded as of Thursday.

Fourteen people were displaced by the fire, according to Reyes, and the Red Cross is offering assistance. Investigators are not allowing residents inside to retrieve personal documents, including identification cards and passports, because the remaining structure is at risk of collapse.

The cause of the fire and the conditions at the property remain subjects of the ongoing investigation.