The family of a woman who was killed in an apartment fire last year is now filing a lawsuit against the owners of the apartment complex.
The fire that claimed the life of Melanie Diaz, 25, broke out at the Arrive Silver Spring Apartment Complex in February 2023.
Diaz’s family and their attorneys announced the wrongful lawsuit Saturday in front of a memorial dedicated to her.
“My daughter passed away, only because some people like to cut the corners and save money,” Diaz’s father, Cesar, told reporters.
The fire started during the early morning hours on Feb. 18, 2023. At around 6 a.m., one tenant at Arrive woke up to fire on the seventh floor and called 911, yet no smoke alarm had gone off. The sole smoke detector didn’t activate.
Fire crews said thick smoke led to “zero” visibility, according to the lawsuit, even in the evacuation stairwell which was supposed to be protected by “fire doors” aimed at keeping smoke away.
The ventilation hatch on the roof of the stairwell had been sealed to accommodate Arrive’s rooftop pool.
Forty minutes after they went in, firefighters were able to make it to the ninth floor, where they found Diaz unconscious. She died of smoke inhalation later at the hospital.
“Two days ago was her birthday,” said Cesar, beginning to shed tears. ”I will never have a chance to talk to my daughter anymore. So we don’t want everybody to have to feel the way we feel every single day.”
The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that both the building’s property management company, Trinity Property Consultants, and the building’s owner CP4 Silver Spring failed to maintain and inspect the evacuation stairwell and inform residents of the need to keep the doors closed.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges a failure to maintain smoke detectors.
“The smoke detector in the unit where the fire broke out was nonfunctioning,” said the family’s attorney Matthew Christ.
The lawsuit also claims that the building should have installed fire sprinklers. It had no sprinkler system.
“When you have hundreds of people living in apartment complex like the Arrive or other buildings, it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when a fire will break out, and so you have to do more than the bare minimum to ensure the safety of your residents,” Christ said.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court Thursday and asks for $2.3 million, the maximum allowed under Maryland law.
In July, Montgomery County lawmakers passed a fire safety bill prompted by Diaz’s death, which requires landlords to put in the lease if there are working sprinkler systems and alert tenants to the risks of living without them.
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