The family of Melanie Diaz, a 25-year-old who died in a fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex in Silver Spring, Maryland, in February 2023, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the property’s owner and operator, seeking $2.3 million in damages and a jury trial, according to court documents.
The plaintiffs allege that the manager, Trinity Property Consultants, and the owner, CP4 Silver Spring — both based at the same address in Irvine, California — failed to maintain the property’s fire safety equipment, including fire doors on evacuation stairwells, smoke detectors and fire alarms; failed to maintain electrical systems; and did not instruct its residents on proper fire safety procedures. As a result, Diaz died shortly after being rescued from the fire, according to the suit.
The fire at Arrive Silver Spring broke out at some time before 6 a.m. on Feb. 23, 2023, when another tenant was awakened by the smell of smoke and called 911. By the time firefighters reached the seventh floor where the fire had broken out, the smoke in the building was so heavy that they had zero visibility, delaying their ability to search and rescue, according to the lawsuit.
When they attempted to ventilate the evacuation stairwell through the rooftop hatch, they found that it had been sealed shut in order to accommodate the building’s rooftop pool.
Diaz was found unconscious on or near the stairwell on the ninth floor of the building, two floors down from her unit. She was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead from smoke inhalation.
Neither Trinity Property Consultants nor CP4 Silver Spring responded to Multifamily Dive’s requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Safety standards
None of the smoke alarms in the building went off in response to the fire, including in the unit where the fire began, according to the lawsuit. Maryland safety codes require apartment owners and operators to be responsible for the installation and maintenance of smoke detectors.
At least one detector had been placed near the unit’s window, and only one type of smoke detector was present as opposed to multiple, also in violation of regulations.
The lawsuit also states that Arrive had a history of fires starting on the property, and that residents had previously complained of nonfunctioning smoke and fire alarms. In addition to Diaz’s death, 19 people were hospitalized in the aftermath of the fire, including three firefighters, and hundreds were displaced, according to WUSA 9.
In December 2023, another fire broke out at Arrive Silver Spring. ABC 7 News reported that the fire, which was quickly extinguished, had started in a vacant unit that was undergoing renovations in response to the February 2023 fire.
Trinity Property Consultants manages a total of 185 apartment properties across the country, including both market-rate and student housing units, according to the company’s website.
Legal changes
Diaz’s death spurred several new laws in Maryland and in Montgomery County, where Arrive Silver Spring is located, regarding fire safety in apartment buildings — particularly fire sprinklers. Sprinkler systems have been required in new apartment buildings in Maryland since 1974, but Arrive Silver Spring predates this requirement and did not have a sprinkler system.
On May 16, Maryland Governor Wes Moore approved the Melanie Nicholle Diaz Fire Safety Act, which established new standards for fire safety equipment installation in high-rise buildings. It also required all multifamily properties in Maryland without automatic sprinkler systems to state clearly in their leases that the systems were not present, and established a workgroup to research further fire safety measures for structures built before 1974.
Two months later on July 16, the Montgomery County Council passed Bill 7-24, which also includes a sprinkler system disclosure requirement for multifamily leases. The lease must also include the building’s emergency plan and whether or not the lease insures possessions damaged by fire, smoke or water.
It also requires each building to have a safety plan approved by the county, to notify tenants of any disruption to service and to keep a building representative available 24/7 for emergencies.
“These kinds of dangerous incidents, and others my office looked into at the prompting of residents around the County, can be avoided by improving communication and emergency planning in multifamily rental properties,” said Montgomery County Council Vice President Kate Stewart, the bill’s author, in a news release.
