Power Cut for Unpaid DWP Bill Figured in Fire That Killed Boy

The fire that fatally injured a 10-month-old boy in a Watts housing project was apparently started by candles used to light the apartment after the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power shut off electricity because of an unpaid bill, authorities said Wednesday.

The power, which was cut off as a result of an overdue $85 bill, also rendered the apartment’s smoke detectors useless.

Fire officials believe the candles touched off the Monday night blaze in the city’s Nickerson Gardens Housing Project, said Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells. The apartment, which was not required to have fire sprinklers, had “hard-wired” smoke detectors that would not operate when the power was turned off, he said.

Jim Derry, director of customer service for the DWP, said electricity was turned off Aug. 6 after two payment notices were ignored.

“We were not contacted and we were not asked for an extension,” he said. “The department had no dialogue with the tenants and had no idea of their circumstances.”

Ivan Belton died Tuesday at Torrance Memorial Hospital Medical Center from the third-degree burns he received in the blaze, hospital spokesman Ron Mackovich said. Ivory Belton, 6, and May Moore, 9, were in critical condition at County-USC suffering burns and smoke inhalation, a hospital spokeswoman said. Four others were treated and released from hospitals for lesser injuries.

Los Angeles Housing Authority spokesman Ed Griffin said tenants are responsible for paying their rent and electric bills, while gas and water are provided. The use of candles for lighting is not allowed, he said.

“That’s a lease violation and we don’t want tenants to do it,” he said. “We don’t want tenants to go without electricity and we don’t want them to use candles.”

Griffin said new procedures are needed so housing authorities are notified before any of the tenants lose utility service.

“Maybe we can work out some apparatus,” he said. “We don’t have the money to pay their bills, but there is something we could do. But it’s not the Housing Authorities’ responsibility to pay the electric bill. We don’t have the money.”