WASHINGTON -- Vulnerable seniors made homeless when their public housing apartment building burned Wednesday claimed there was chaos on Thursday at a hotel where they were transported for shelter.
"They have the names and everything all mixed up," said 79-year-old Clarice Hughes who was outside the Fairfield Inn on New York Avenue Thursday afternoon because she said the lobby of the hotel was too crowded with other seniors.
She said she had been waiting three hours when she spoke with WUSA9 at about 3 p.m.
City officials and relief workers from the Red Cross were at the hotel and appeared to be working feverishly to sort out any mix ups.
Washington Fire and EMS chief Gregory Dean told reporters earlier in the day that the was enough temporary housing for displaced seniors and that officials were working their way through any issues.
D.C. Department of Human Services released the following statement on Thursday evening:
"Immediately following the devastating fire at Arthur Capper Senior Apartments, Mayor Bowser directed her team to take a census to ensure everyone affected had somewhere to sleep. Rooms have been identified for all displaced individuals, and the District’s Department of Human Services remains on-site at all motels currently housing Arthur Capper residents to serve meals and coordinate resources during this difficult time. Teams have been working non-stop for the past 24+ hours to ensure all displaced residents get assigned to and transported to appropriate accommodations, and we will continue to do so until everyone is safely housed."
Many of the seniors are without medication or any possessions, all of which were lost in Wednesday's catastrophe.
The 161-unit Arthur Capper Senior Public Housing complex in the 900 block of Fifth Street SE burned on Wednesday. There were no deaths.
Marines from the neighboring Marine barracks helped firefighters evacuate victims, some of whom were using walkers and wheelchairs.
An investigation is underway to determine why fire alarms did not sound throughout the complex, and why the building's extensive sprinkler system did not stop the fire.
Former resident Florence Copeland told WUSA9 that she endured at least six fire incidents during the ten years she lived in the subsidized housing complex.
Copeland said alarms always sounded and that the sprinkler systems were so effective that water damage and flooding were a repeated problem.
"We said you were more likely to drown than to burn in that building," Copeland said.
WUSA9 has obtained copies of fire safety code violation citations written in 2012. The records do not indicate when the violations were corrected.
Meanwhile, advocates for steel and concrete construction pointed to the fire as an example of why mid-rise buildings such as the Capper complex should not include timber frame construction. The burned building has a brick facade but the interior frame is all wood.
“A passerby, reporter, first responder, or even a tenant wouldn't know that the structure and frame of the building was actually something more akin to firewood than brick," said Kevin Lawlor of Build with Strength, a coalition of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association.
