Page 6 - aruba-today-20170304
P. 6
A6
U.S. NEWSSaturday 4 March 2017
Inspectors cited problems at care home where fire killed 2
Debris sits outside of a house where a fatal fire occurred overnight in Baltimore, Friday, March 3, didn’t accurately reflect saw the blaze and called
2017, where officials say two people died and four people were critically injured. the number of residents liv- the police. Monroe said
ing at the home. The home she and her fiance tried to
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) also didn’t use an alarm help get people out of the
system to alert staff mem- burning home.
JULIET LINDERMAN earlier this year. eight beds, records show. bers of anyone coming “He carried an elderly lady
Associated Press In a Jan. 5 visit to the Kozy Inspectors also found that and going throughout the from the doorway into the
BALTIMORE (AP) — There Kottage assisted living fa- the staff didn’t regularly re- day. grass, and then there was
were multiple safety and cility, inspectors found that view the emergency and Firefighters called to the another lady who was
health deficiencies at a the owner had recently disaster plans. home about 2 a.m. on Fri- screaming for my help,”
Baltimore assisted living turned part of the living The staff didn’t store medi- day found heavy smoke Monroe told the TV station.
facility where two people room into a bedroom with- cations safely, failed to ac- and fire showing from the State inspectors also visited
perished and four others out notifying the depart- commodate special diets first floor, Baltimore fire de- the property last year, and
were injured Friday in a fire, ment, as is required. The for some residents, and partment spokeswoman wrote in a January report
state inspectors reported home is licensed to have kept daily call sheets that Blair Adams said. that they found “no docu-
Firefighters pulled seven mented evidence to sup-
people from the home and port” that the manager
one person refused treat- of the home had current
ment, Adams said. Six were training in fire safety, basic
taken to hospitals in critical first aid and basic CPR.
condition and officials later The report also says the
learned that two had died, home did not conduct fire
she said. It took 40 firefight- and disaster drills on all
ers more than an hour to shifts, as required by the
bring the fire under control. state. In 2013, the state also
The cause is under investi- found insufficient evidence
gation. that multiple staffers were
Tracee Barnes, who is listed adequately trained on fire
as the owner of the proper- safety, use of fire extin-
ty and the licensee of Kozy guishers and first aid.
Kottage, did not return Fire officials did not release
messages seeking com- the age and gender of the
ment Friday. deceased. The Office of
Shaunte Monroe told the State Medical Examiner
WBAL-TV that she was just will determine their causes
arriving home when she of death. q
2nd suspect arrested in case of missing Georgia teacher
FITZGERALD, Ga. (AP) — A ing and hindering the ap- es at the school. McFarland Dukes had helped “con- GBI spokeswoman Nelly
second man was arrested prehension of a criminal said the two suspects are ceal and destroy” Grin- Miles cited the gag order
Friday in connection with in connection with the dis- not related and that Dukes stead’s body in 2005, when she declined to re-
the slaying of Georgia high appearance of Tara Grin- still lives in the area, though WMAZ-TV reported (http:// lease information on Dukes’
school teacher who van- stead. she wasn’t certain of which on.wmaz.com/2lDkEVs ). arrest.
ished nearly 12 years ago, Grinstead, a former beauty county. Dukes was released from “We’ve been told not to
with warrants saying the queen and teacher, went “He was just an extremely jail Friday after posting make any comments at
new suspect helped the missing from her home in intelligent kid,” McFarland $15,000 bond and waiving all,” Miles told The Associ-
woman’s killer dispose of October 2005. The case said of Dukes. “I would ab- his first appearance before ated Press.
her body. stumped investigators for solutely not expect either a judge, media organiza- A woman who answered
The Ben Hill County sher- more than a decade. of those to have been in- tions reported. the phone at the Ben Hill
iff’s office and the Geor- But the GBI announced volved in this crime.” Superior Court Judge Mel- County Sheriff’s Office said
gia Bureau of Investigation last week it had charged The second arrest came af- anie Cross, who is presid- reporters seeking informa-
declined to comment on 33-year-old Ryan Alexan- ter GBI investigators spent ing over the murder case tion on Dukes’ arrest must
the arrest of 32-year-old Bo der Duke with murder in the several days searching a against Duke in neighbor- submit a written request
Dukes, citing a gag order case. pecan farm near Fitzger- ing Irwin County, issued a for records in person. The
imposed by a judge earlier Duke and Dukes were ald, about 9 miles north of gag order Tuesday prohibit- Georgia Open Records Act
in the week. classmates at Irwin County the rural farm community ing attorneys, law enforce- does not require requests
But Georgia news media High School at the same of Ocilla where Grinstead ment officers, potential wit- for public documents to be
reported that arrest war- time Grinstead taught his- lived. The GBI has not said nesses and relatives of the submitted in person or pro-
rants showed Dukes was tory there, said Wendy Mc- whether it found Grin- suspect and victim from hibit them from being sub-
charged with concealing Farland, a close friend of stead’s remains. discussing the case outside mitted electronically via
a body, evidence tamper- Grinstead’s who still teach- A search warrant said the courtroom. email.q
