Repair of Westshire Farms alarm system after lightning strike was extensive
By Vicky Wedig
Editor
Laurie Whitby knows exactly how long elevators at Westshire Farms were not functioning after a lightning strike at the senior housing complex July 21.
“Forty-one days. That’s a travesty,” said the Janesville woman whose parents Ken Whitby, 84, and Joan Whitby, 82, live on the third floor of the Parliament Lane apartments.
Whitby said her mother, who has a bad back and uses a walker, was able to get down the stairs once or twice during that time, but her father, who had knee surgery in July, was confined to his unit.
“He was there the whole time,” she said.
Whitby and her sister, Nancy Houghton, of Rockton, Ill., ran errands, got groceries and checked out items from the library for their parents and Meals on Wheels delivered lunches. Whitby said other residents who are unable to traverse stairs were in the same boat as her dad.
Town of Delavan emergency medical technicians carried one woman down each week for a required shot, and another resident with multiple sclerosis braved the stairs once on her own, Whitby said.
“She was trapped too,” she said.
Extensive repair
Property manager Tish Lux said Aug. 4 – two weeks after the lightning strike – that the system was scheduled to be repaired Aug. 8.
The repair began but was extensive and has to pass state inspection before the elevators could be operated, said Town of Delavan Fire Chief Jerry Edwards.
Edwards said he felt Westshire Farms initially dragged its feet to fix the problem but, once repairs began, did what it could to get the elevators running as soon as possible.
“It was quite intense,” he said. “I don’t believe they realized how bad it really was.”
Lightning struck the control panel of the building’s alarm system.
“That wiped out everything,” Edwards said.
As a result, new control panels and sensors had to be installed on every floor and in each elevator, he said. After such extensive damage, the apartment maintenance team should have quickly been in talks with various companies to acquire the likes of these Titan Machine Products to ensure the elevators were back up to full working order. He said the repair was huge and expensive but has passed state inspection and is on par with state standards.
The elevators began operating again around noon Aug. 30.
However, Edwards said, he has ordered the complex to continue a 24-hour watch on the upper floors because the fire alarm pull stations in the hallways are not functioning. They also must have state approval, he said.
“I know they’re putting a rush on it,” he said.
Whitby said her parents learned from their Meals on Wheels delivery person – not apartment management – that the elevators were up and running.
She said her parents, who had a busy social schedule with bridge on Mondays, sheepshead on Wednesdays and a chat group on Fridays, are glad to have their freedom back.
“They were both going stir crazy because they do get out, so dad was very pleased that it was fixed,” she said.
Upper floors
But, Edwards said, having the elevators running doesn’t guarantee a safe situation for residents who live on upper floors and aren’t able to use stairs. He said in the event of smoke or a fire, the alarm system will shut the elevators down.
However, because the apartments are privately owned and purchased by residents, no law prohibits residents from living on the second or third floor.
“Whether you want to be in that situation, I guess that’s up to you,” he said.
The complex is for people 55 years old and older, and Edwards some people have lived there for many years but have become less mobile as they’ve aged.
“When they went there 20 years ago, they were probably fairly active,” he said. “It’s a hard thing for people to make a change, but it’s not a very safe situation for them.”
Multiple strikes
Some residents also want assurance that the situation won’t arise again.
Lela Laurent’s 90-year-old mother-in-law had begun moving into a third-floor unit and was in the building the night lightning struck. Marilyn Topp, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and uses oxygen, got down from the third floor by scooting step by step on her derriere, said Laurent, of Cary, Ill.
“She called me the next day and said, ‘The elevator is out, so I might as well go back home,'” Laurent said. “She came down the stairs that night on her butt.”
Topp went back to Eagle River where she’s lived for 26 years, and Laurent began looking for authorities who can compel the property owners to find a permanent solution.
Edwards said the July 21 lightning strike is at least the third time lightning has struck the building.
Laurent, a long-time paralegal, said she wrote a letter to Lux; attorney Michael J. Fiandaca, of Chicago, president of Delavan Active Seniors Corp., the company that owns Westshire Farms; andSusan Ayala, who is listed as the corporation’s registered agent.
“The gist of the letter is ‘You advertise elevators for ease of accessibility when in fact your elevators have been out four times,'” she said.
Whitby said Edwards explained to her that wires in the attic are so convoluted they act as a conductor and attract lightning.
“I told them they should check into looking for an electrical engineer and figure out why this has been happening,” Edwards said.
In her letter, Laurent requested a response from Westshire officials within five business days. That time was up Thursday, and Laurent had heard nothing from Lux, Ayala or Fiandaca.
She said she has “no idea at this point” if the matter will result in litigation, “but their lack of responsiveness to everyone has just been awful.”
“I realize a lightning strike is an act of God but when it happens multiple times, there’s obviously a reason this building keeps getting struck,” she said.
Whitby is not confident the property owner will seek a solution.
“Now that the elevator’s working, why?” she said. “I think that’s their attitude.”
