Late one winter night, Ms. Mercier awoke to find herself trapped in her third story apartment by a fire in the exit hallway.  Due to the hillside location, the fire department ladders could not reach her.  The fire burned through her front door and trapped her on her balcony.  With flames breaking through her balcony door, she suffered 3^rd degree burns over 70% of her body before a ladder engine could rescue her.  We performed an investigation and determined that several factors lead to this tragedy. 

First, the high-temperature limit switch on a Cadet baseboard heater in a neighboring apartment failed and caused the heater to overheat.  This high heat ignited a nearby tablecloth. 

Second, the smoke alarms were not working in the origin apartment.  The shrieks of a pet parrot awoke the tenant in this unit who left her apartment in a rush without closing her door.

Third, there was not automatic door closure device from the apartment door to the fire egress hallway.  The fire spread quickly to the hallway and trapped Ms. Mercier.

Fourth, the fire-rated door on Ms. Mercier’s apartment was installed without fire sealant around the frame.  The fire burned through the casing in less than 5 minutes and spread into Ms. Mercier’s apartment.