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Incident Information

Dispatch: On November 17th, 2019 at 10:19pm the Patriot City 911 center receives a 911 call from

Audrey Edelman. Mrs. Edelman lives at 1211 Brady Lane, Building 9 Apartment A. The

phone call transcript is below:

911: “Patriot City 911 – What is the location of your emergency?”

Mrs. Edelman: “Hello?”

911: “Yes. Patriot City 911”

Mrs. Edelman: “Is this the Fire Department”

911: “This is 911 operator 72. Do you need the Fire Department?”

Mrs. Edelman: “My name is Audrey Edelman. There is smoke in the stairwell outside

my door”

911: “What is your address?”

Mrs. Edelman: “1211 Brady Lane, Patriot City”

911: “Is that your house?”

Mrs. Edelman: “It’s an apartment building. I’m in Building 9 Apartment A”

911: “There is smoke in your apartment?”

Mrs. Edelman: “I smell smoke in my apartment, but I think it’s coming from the

apartment across the hall”

911: “Do you see any fire?”

Mrs. Edelman: “No”

911: “Ok are you alone in the house?”

Mrs. Edelman: “Just me and my cats”

911: “I want you to leave the building and get to somewhere safe. I’m

sending the Fire Department”

Mrs. Edelman: “Ok thank you

The Patriot City, Connecticut Fire Department at 10:21pm is dispatched to a report of an apartment fire

at 1211 Brady Lane, Building 9 Apartment B. It is assigned Incident # 19-00223. Engine 1, Engine 2,

Engine 3, Truck 1 and Battalion Chief 1 respond.

Upon arrival Engine 1 reports flames coming from one window of Apartment B and heavy smoke coming

from the front door and stairwell. Engine 2 stretches a 1 ¾” hose line into Apartment B and extinguishes

the fire before it reaches flashover. Engine 3 helps salvage personal belongings. Truck 1 searches all the

apartments. Mrs. Edelman from Apartment A is already standing on the front lawn. Apartment B is

empty. On the second floor Apartment C is vacant. In Apartment D Truck 1 finds Mr. Antonio Moss who

is a 73-year-old male who lives alone. Mr. Moss is having trouble breathing from the smoke and can’t

easily get down the stairs. Truck 1 helps Mr. Moss down the stairs and he is turned over to Patriot City

EMS. Mr. Moss ends up getting transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation. YOU are the lead

investigator assigned to the fire. You arrive at the building and begin your investigation at 11:02 pm on

November 17. It is 45 F with cloudy skies and no precipitation.

Building Information: 1211 Brady Lane – Building 9

The apartment building is two stories with no attic or basement. The building is approximately 125 feet

wide by 40 feet deep. The exterior walls are brick, and the floors and interior walls are wood frame. This

building has two interior stairwells which connect eight different apartments. Each apartment has a

natural gas boiler and water heater. Each apartment has their own electrical service. There is a fire

alarm with pull stations, horns and strobes but no fire sprinkler system. Each apartment is

approximately 500 square feet with a bedroom, a kitchen and a living room.

Interviews

The listed tenants of Apartment B are George and Michelle Solder. When you arrive neither of them are

on scene. You are greeted on scene by Fred Stern, the property manager. Mr. Stern shows you the

following lease information card from the office file:

Mr. Stern tells you that the Solders have lived in the complex for three years, however they stopped

paying their bills 4 months ago. Their electric, water, and gas had all been shut off earlier in the week by

the utility companies for non-payment. On November 1st, the property management company had

informed the Solders they were being evicted for non-payment of rent and had to be out of the

apartment by November 20th or risk arrest. Mr. Stern tells you that the Solders were very hostile and

threatening towards the property management during the recent week. Mr. Stern says he last saw the

Solders walking into Building 9 approximately 15 minutes before the fire. He tells you that the insurance

policy for the apartment buildings is Pacific Sun Insurance Co. Policy #3175642. Mr. Stern gives you his

Date of Birth as 7/5/59 and you can call him if you need him at 860-649-2779

You speak to Mrs. Edelman from Apartment A. She is uninjured. She wants you to know that she has

four cats and they are all ok. Her cat’s names are Whiskers, Frisco, Violet, and Bonko. She thinks they are

Siamese cats, but she doesn’t really know. They don’t like dry food, so she only gives them canned food.

Frisco used to do tricks, but she is getting old and lazy. Mrs. Edelman says she saw the Solder’s car pull

out of a parking spot and leave the property about 5 minutes before she smelled smoke. She knew

exactly what time it was because Bonko needs his nighttime medicine. If Bonko misses his nighttime

Building 9 Apartment B Tenant Card:

Tenant: George Solder DOB: 2/23/83 860-748-0182 CT Driver’s License: #0258678

Tenant: Michelle Solder DOB: 7/30/77 860-214-4460 CT Driver’s License: #3158677

Children: None

Pets: None

medicine, he gets too hyper and keeps Mrs. Edelman up all night. Mrs. Edelman likes getting her sleep

because they she can watch the Channel 4 news in the morning. Mrs. Edelman asks what news channel

you watch. Mrs. Edelman gives her Date of Birth as 8/4/54 and says if you ever want to watch Channel 4

news together you can call her at 860-946-9772.

You meet with Fire Department Captain Russ Paltauf from Engine 2. He was the first Fire Department

personnel inside the apartment. When he arrived, he saw the window to the apartment broken with

flames and smoke coming out of it. Capt. Paltauf reports that when they entered the apartment the

upholstered chair against the west wall was on fire, and the sofa on the south wall was beginning to

catch fire. Captain Paltauf says they didn’t have to damage any doors because all doors they found were

in the open position already. He did not see any people in the apartment. Capt. Paltauf does state that

he found the 9V batteries had been removed from the three smoke alarms in the unit before they got

there. He found them on the floor. He tells you he has had Patriot Police Department provide scene

security until you are able to complete the investigation.

You attempt to reach Mr. and Mrs. Solder at the listed phone numbers, but no one answers.

Exterior Examination

You complete a 360 degree walk around of the building. You see that the Apartment B window glass is

broken on the glass outside the building. There is light smoke and soot staining above the window and

above the entryway to the stairwell. Review “Exterior Pictures 01-06”.

Interior Examination

You enter the first floor Apartment B from the stairwell. Smoke and soot staining are apparent the

doorframe and along the edges of the door. There is no sign of forced entry. Review “Interior

Photographs 01-14” in relation to the sketch below. Use all this information to answer the short answer

questions and fill in the cause and origin investigation report.

Upholstered Chair

Sofa

Kitchen

Utility

Closet

Bathroom

Bedroom

Stairwell

Entry Door