Construction Maison

In January 2015, a massive fire in Edgewater, N.J., demonstrated that buildings with sprinkler systems are not always protected against fire. The blaze destroyed 240 residential apartments and displaced 500 people from the Edgewater Avalon apartment building . The fire began when a maintenance worker’s plumbing torch accidentally ignited wooden wall studs , and flames quickly spread throughout the structure. Fifteen minutes passed before workers called the fire department . In that time, the fire spread throughout combustible void spaces (between walls and floors) and soon engulfed the building. Emergency personnel from 35 different cities and towns ultimately responded to the incident. Thankfully, there were no fatalities. Immediately after the blaze, people asked why the fire was so devastating. The building had sprinklers, after all. Shouldn’t the sprinkler system have extinguished the fire? To make matters worse , this building had already burned down 15 years prior during i...

A 20-year-old Kennewick man is dead in a gang- related shooting at the Heatherstone Apartments. Jorge Antonio Jimenez was shot in the stomach and leg when he confronted two suspects carving their rival gang insignia into the paint of his gold SUV parked in the complex lot Monday night . Police were looking Tuesday for two male suspects seen running north through the complex across the street from Park Middle School . Officers were called shortly before 9 p.m. Monday to a report of several shots fired at 1138 W. 10th Ave. in the parking lot of the F Building. “At least a dozen shots were fired by the suspect with a handgun, with at least two of the bullets striking the victim,” said Kennewick Sgt. Ken Lattin. Some friends helped a wounded Jimenez back to his second-floor apartment, where he died before police and paramedics arrived. On Tuesday, Suzy and Jose Nieto of Wenatchee told the Herald their 19-year-old daughter and their 1-year-old granddaughter lived with Jimenez. Their da...