MOISES MENDOZA and DALE LEZON
Houston Chronicle
Reprinted with Permission

Hours after a fire which killed two residents, Marion Lee's face contorted in anger Tuesday as she condemned the management of the Park Houston Apartments and worried about what would happen if there were more fires.


"The owners are worthless," fumed Lee, who lives in a back building of the complex at 12000 Martin Luther King Blvd. "The apartments are scraggly, and there's only one way in and one way out of here. What's going to happen if there's a fire and I can't get out?"

Lee's fear is accentuated by three fire deaths that have occurred at this decrepit complex in southeast Houston over the last three months — two on Tuesday and one in May.

The deaths Tuesday morning were especially tragic, residents said, because the 47-year-old and 16-year-old victims were disabled.

That blaze and the May fire which killed 65-year-old Mary Lott remain under investigation by fire department arson investigators, who are also looking into whether smoke alarms were working. The fires appear to have been accidental.

Tuesday's blaze started in a unit facing the street at about 1:45 a.m., according to the Houston Fire Department, which needed about 30 minutes to extinguish it.

A third man, who lived at the apartment and was the caretaker for the two victims, tried to save them but wasn't able to, authorities said. The victims' names have not been released, pending notification of their families. Through a family member, the caretaker declined to be interviewed.

The 476-unit complex has a history of code violations.

Calls not returned

During the most recent code inspection in September 2009, inspectors wrote 42 citations for structural and electrical problems in more than a dozen buildings.

During the last inspection by fire marshals in 2007, authorities found management didn't have a required certificate of occupancy and incorrectly stored combustible material, among other violations. Richard Galvan, who oversees the fire department's inspection service, said management later corrected those violations. The apartments are slated to be re-inspected within the next two years, Galvan said.

Management did not respond to repeated phone messages seeking comment. A guard at the front entrance said the Houston Chronicle was banned from the property even if residents wanted a reporter there.

3 gates locked

Robert Cress, who is listed in state documents as the president of Park Houston Affordable Housing Partners, the organization that owns the apartments, did not respond to phone calls to his phone numbers listed in the records.

One resident said he had no complaints about the complex.

"We don't have no problems here," said Jarvis Surgers, 45. "It's just regular folks here."

But others, like Lee, said Park Houston management has done little to assuage their concerns about safety hazards since the last fire. Many apartments don't have working smoke alarms, the residents said.

Almost the entire length of the complex is surrounded by fences and tall barbed and razor wire. Although there are three access gates toward the back, they appear to be padlocked shut - a practice the fire department says is legal as long as there are special boxes to allow firefighters to open them and there's an unobstructed exit at the front of the complex.
Many calls to HPD

Police also said they've responded to so many calls there in the last 12 months that they can't count them all - the list of calls for service fills more than 80 computer pages, said a police spokesman.

On Tuesday, workers nailed plywood boards to cover the windows of the charred apartment. Clothing, books and household goods spilled onto the grass.

Nearby, Linda Griggs sat in a shady stairwell, ruminating on what caused the fire and whether she'll one day be able to afford to move away from Park Houston. The rumors about the fire's cause are endless, she said.

"There are issues here," she said. "I wouldn't recommend that nobody live here."