Fourth person dies from apartment blaze

A fourth person died Friday as a result of a deadly Des Moines apartment fire, said Brian O'Keefe, spokesman for the Des Moines Fire Department.

The man, who like the other victims has not been publicly identified, was transported to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City for treatment after Thursday's fire and died there on Friday, O'Keefe said.

The deadliest Des Moines fire in at least a decade also killed a 57-year-old woman, a 71-year-old man and one other person, police and fire officials said Friday.

Investigators will use DNA testing to identify that victim in the fatal fire, which occurred Thursday afternoon at the Eddy apartment building, 1120 Polk Blvd. The need for DNA testing in victim identification is rare, Des Moines police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said.

Firefighters were called to the blaze a little before 1 p.m. Thursday. Heavy flames were coming from the top floor of the four-story apartment building.

One other apartment resident remained hospitalized late Friday.

Two Des Moines firefighters also were hospitalized: one for heat exhaustion and another for a knee injury. They had been released by Friday morning.

More:Watch the news conference on the fatal fire

The cause of the fire remained unknown and under investigation Friday, officials said. Police are assisting the fire department with the investigation.

Des Moines Fire Department Fire Marshal Jonathan Lund said the fire started in a fourth-floor apartment that sustained "extreme damage."

Much of the fire was able to be contained to the apartment where the fire started and its two neighboring apartments. The door to the apartment where the fire started was open, which may have helped the fire spread, Lund said.

While the fourth floor was severely damaged by fire, other floors of the apartment mostly sustained water damage from firefighters battling the blaze, he said.

Lund said he expects residents of the bottom three floors of the apartment will eventually be able to move back in.

More than 60 people live in the building and were displaced, Des Moines Fire Capt. Mark Dooley said at the fire scene Thursday. Polk County Emergency Management and the American Red Cross have assisted in finding them temporary shelter.

The Eddy building was home to a range of residents, including 16 residents who use federal Section 8 vouchers, which are available to low-income families as well as elderly and disabled people, city records show. Other residents were enrolled in a federal veterans supportive housing program.

Lund said Friday it's not immediately clear what prevented residents from escaping quickly, other than that the fire appeared to produce a lot of toxic smoke very quickly.

"There was tremendous amount of smoke production," he said. "Anybody that's exposed to that smoke or the super-heated gases for a minimal amount of time can become incapacitated, which can slow evacuation."

Lund said the building did not have a fire sprinkler system, but it didn't violate any city codes, due to the age of the building.

Polk County Neighborhood Inspection Supervisor Chris Heilskov explained that older buildings in Des Moines are essentially legally "grandfathered in," meaning some city codes may not apply to them because their construction predates the city's codes, themselves.

"We still try to make sure those buildings are as safe as possible," Heilskov said, noting that 18-month inspections are still upheld, and alarm panels are frequently checked. 

The Eddy building passed its last inspection in 2015, Heilskov confirmed.

The nearly 100-year-old Eddy building has been owned by Andrew Howard and Georgia Howard of California since 2013.

O'Keefe said firefighters have been called to the Eddy apartment building 24 times in the last six months. Four of those calls were related to fire: Two were food burning on a stove, and another was a washer fire, he said.

More than 50 firefighters responded to Thursday's fire. 

About 10 people were rescued from the building by firefighters, while others escaped on their own. Firefighters put ladders up to the building's fourth floor to help residents escape.

A state fire marshal's listing of fire deaths in Iowa indicates Des Moines had not had a fire kill more than one person since 2006.

Lund said the deaths were hard on the firefighters.

"Incredibly difficult for everyone involved," Lund said. "There's obviously a sense of loss from folks in our department. ... Our goal is to get everybody out safely. Now, that doesn't always happen."

Fire precautions

Des Moines Fire Marshal Jonathan Lund reminded Iowans on Friday to take proper fire precautions, emphasizing three key safeguards citizens can take to protect themselves in the event of a fire:

1. React to fire alarms

Lund said there's a reason Iowans are trained to evacuate during fire drills from the time they're in elementary school — because leaving as soon as you hear an alarm can save your life.

"People need to take those warnings and exit the buildings as soon as possible," Lund said.

He said some people don't react quickly to alarms during the day, assuming they're drills — a response that can be deadly.

"We have a culture where we’ve created apathy towards fire alarms," Lund said.

He noted that citizens should ensure they have working fire alarms on every floor and in every bedroom in a home.

2. Keep doors closed

If you know there's a fire, close your door on your way out of the house.

Lund showed pictures of both sides of a door that was closed during the Eddy apartment fire. While the side the fire was on was charred, the door stood sturdy, and the other side of the door was barely scathed.

Lund said closing doors behind you and sleeping with the door shut during your day-to-day can reduce your risk, in the event of a fire.

3. Ask landlords about sprinkler systems

Because the Eddy was built in the 1920s, there isn't a retroactive provision requiring a sprinkler system in the building, Lund said. However, heat-activated sprinklers can make a huge difference.

"They're the fastest responding mechanism to eliminate the dangers of fire," Lund said. "They're critically important to savinglife."