Dangers of improperly licensed housing facility revealed

A loophole in Michigan's housing licensing law may have played a role in a fatal fire at a senior living center.

Fire officials say the death could have been prevented if the facility was licensed and required to have sprinklers, The Detroit News reports. A stray cigarette ignited the late-night blaze at a senior citizens complex that injured several tenants and killed a man.

The Bellaire Independent Senior Apartments, where the fire broke out, is licensed as an apartment rather than a senior living home, the newspaper reports. The licensing classification does not require the building to have fire sprinklers.

"If that would have been a sprinkled building, there wouldn't have been a loss of life," Fire Chief Timothy Bosman told the newspaper. "There was not any type of (senior living) licensing for this building."

In Michigan, "independent living" is only a marketing term, with companies often claiming the same services as licensed "assisted living" facilities, according to the newspaper's interview with disability rights advocate and attorney Richard Bernstein. Licensed residences are subject to stricter rules and building codes. The Bellaire complex was built in the 1970s when apartment complexes weren't required to have sprinklers.

"You don't face the same regulations by the state (in an independent living facility) than if you were in an assisted living facility," Bernstein said. "This is a horrifically dangerous loophole that has cost lives and will continue to cost lives in the future."