Denver shelter where child fell from window has a history of broken window locks

The Denver building where an -year-old girl was injured after falling several stories from an open window on Monday has a history of broken window locks according to city representatives and legal letters sent to the Salvation Army A resident at Denver s Tamarac Family Shelter reached out to Darren O Connor a Colorado-based attorney who focuses on family law civil rights and eviction tenant representation early last year because water was seeping into his family s unit and causing mold to grow in the carpet O Connor announced The leakage was traced to an unsealed sliding glass window that wouldn t close entirely or lock which concerned the family with a crawling toddler O Connor noted O Connor described the issue as a phenomenal menace of catastrophe in a letter to the Salvation Army about the unit s habitability in February Throughout his study O Connor discovered that a large chunk of the building s windows weren t sealed and shelter residents were opening the already lock-broken windows or unscrewing them to cool off he revealed All of the windows led to tiny platforms with no railings to prevent a multi-story fall The family shelter at E Hampden Ave used to be an Embassy Suites hotel The hotel removed the railings and locked window access to the balconies before the city bought the building Denver Mayor Mike Johnston declared during a Mayor-Council meeting on Tuesday When we acquired it we shored up the locks Johnston noted We also put notices on every window in both English and Spanish saying Do not open these sliding doors Particular residents broke off the locks and opened the doors against that guidance which is how Monday s tragedy happened he stated It s unknown if the -year-old girl has been issued from the hospital The Salvation Army previously stated the girl was seven years old The cause of the fall is also unknown but Derek Woodbury a spokesperson for the city s Department of Housing Stability called the situation an accidental falling on Monday The Denver Police Department is inspecting the situation An unidentified spokesperson for the department mentioned the girl suffered serious injuries when she fell from the seventh floor to a second-story rooftop but is expected to survive The reason the balconies don t have a fence is because you re not supposed to get out there to begin with commented Jon Ewing a spokesperson for the city of Denver Ewing disclosed the windows are screwed shut and shelter tenants sign an agreement not to open them The screws are supposed to be inspected every week but they re certainly inspected at turnover by Salvation Army staff Ewing explained You have to open them yourself unless somebody didn t notice that the window could still open Ewing disclosed The Salvation Army did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Tuesday The windows open roughly four inches for ventilation but the screws make it complex for specific Ewing announced City executives are installing new fasteners in the shelter s rooms to fix that issue and prevent tampering What we re doing in contemporary times is making a permanent key where we re putting in bolts that can t be manipulated with regular screwdrivers that you can buy at the store to go even a step further Director of Denver s Department of General Services Al Gardner explained during the Mayor-Council meeting Staff also went through every room in the shelter to tighten the current window bolts and ensure the windows couldn t open from the inside Gardner revealed Related Articles Man dies after ascertained unresponsive floating in Boulder Creek on July Former attorney for Aurora dentist in high-profile murder episode charged with arson of his own home -year-old Aurora man calls to document fatally shooting his wife Denver police corporal fired for sexually harassing recruit Girl injured at Denver shelter after falling six floors from open window All we care about is that the guests are safe Ewing announced That s why we have a family shelter We screwed the window shut we revealed don t open the window but that s all we can do We can t be there Ewing noted residents can file maintenance requests to fix broken window locks but O Connor reported getting Salvation Army to complete any repair requests was laborious and a matter manager on site threatened to have his client discharged from the shelter The Colorado attorney reported he had to threaten to take the Salvation Army to court before repairs on the window a broken fridge and growing mold were made Even then the window was shut but not routinely checked O Connor disclosed his client faced ongoing issues with the management and ended up moving out of the shelter out of fear for his family s safety Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter