by More than 800 tenants were displaced by a six-alarm fire at The Cooper apartment complex in Fort Worth about six weeks ago, and now information is starting to surface regarding their ability to re-establish contact with items left in the building.
The response isn’t what some residents were hoping for or anticipating.
The Cooper’s property management business informed 22-year-old Gage McGraw, a PhD student at Texas Christian University, on the evening of July 31 that he would not be permitted to return his possessions from the apartment unit he had been living in for almost a month before to the fire.
According to a copy examined by the Fort Worth Report, the letter stated, “We will remove and dispose of the remains of your personal property because it causes a health and safety hazard.” We deeply regret your loss.
According to the letter, The Cooper was unable to give McGraw access to his goods for a number of reasons, including the building’s structural instability, the total destruction of his flat and personal belongings, and the presence of mildew. According to the report, McGraw’s possessions and the flat are tainted by harmful mold that would need to be contained, eliminated, or cleaned by a professional.
According to the letter, such activities are regrettably not possible in your unit because of the building’s substantial fire damage.
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A request for response from a representative of The Cooper’s property management firm, RPM Living, was not answered.
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According to a June 27 structural study by DGA Consulting Engineers, McGraw said he was totally taken aback by the letter because his unit, No. 1322, was one of roughly 100 that had previously been judged safe to temporarily enter in order to recover possessions.
According to the assessment, over 100 homes may be accessible and are still occupied, while over two dozen units have significant structural damage and should not be touched. According to the report, engineers were unable to access over 20 units because their doors were shut.
In late June, McGraw claimed, Fort Worth firefighters assisted him in retrieving necessities like clothes and personal hygiene products.
McGraw claimed that it wasn’t until July 31 that he heard back from The Cooper’s management business regarding his personal items. Prior to and immediately during the fire, Cushman & Wakefield was in charge of the Cooper; however, RPM Living has since taken it.
Displaced residents staged protests at The Cooper and its companion properties in Fort Worth throughout July, calling for answers regarding the condition of the two buildings’ apartments, their personal possessions, and what they claimed to be false insurance coverage information.
The entire scenario is simply awful. Having us sit here for a month and a half and have to fight for our own possessions is immoral, McGraw said. That says a lot about the nature of those in command of this establishment.
McGraw claimed that in order to demand answers in person, he drove from Houston, where he is staying with family, at six in the morning on August 1.
By midday, he and a few other locals were standing outside The Cooper as a line of tenants drove down the street. Although they refused to reply to the report, workers permitted several renters to drive inside the property’s garage.
Standing outside, 35-year-old Harriet Asare claimed she spent roughly 17 months living in unit 1335 at The Cooper, which structural engineers indicated was safe to enter and inhabit.
On the evening of July 31, RPM Living also sent her an email. But according to her letter, property management is still deciding whether it’s safe to go back inside and whether any of her possessions can be retrieved.
According to a copy of the letter examined by the Report, it stated that the building and your personal property are most likely contaminated by dangerous substances that are unsafe for people or animals (such as, but not limited to, compounds that cause cancer, smoke, debris, and mold from firefighting water damage).
Asare stated that even though she has spent all of her emergency finances on seeking new home and replacing necessities, she is still hoping that she will be able to retrieve her possessions. She wants The Cooper to take responsibility for the fire and offer assistance if they won’t let her into the apartment.
Asare stated, “They have caused us this inconvenience.” What will they do, then, to make up for all this trouble? They don’t seem prepared to take any action.
According to company executives, the Cooper reimbursed prorated rent and security deposits and released tenants from their leases.
Asare said she signed a lease at a new apartment complex on July 31 while living with a friend in the aftermath of the fire. She noted that although she is moving on with her life, personal items, such mementos from a recent trip to Ghana, are still at The Cooper.
McGraw stated that he wanted the personal belongings that are significant to this phase of his life, such as his growing fashion attire, his huge vinyl record collection, and handwritten notes to and from his fiancée.
After failing to receive answers on Friday, McGraw has little optimism. Uncertain of what to do next, he intended to drive back to Houston that evening.
Cecilia Lenzen works for the Fort Worth Report as a government accountability reporter. Reach her at fortworthreport.org/cecilia.lenzen.
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