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Broken fire sprinkler floods out seniors in Lutz

Posted at 4:54 PM, May 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-24 17:38:34-04
At Landsdowne Terrace, some senior residents use wheelchairs while others rely on a walker to get around.
 
Around 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, residents said a broken sprinkler on the fourth floor led to flooding, forcing dozens of people out of their apartments.
 
“The fourth and third floor on the side and the front, everything is full of water,” resident Doris Oritz said.
 
“Water is coming out of the light fixtures in my apartment,” another resident said.
 
There are no reports of injuries. Although we did see a woman taken away in an ambulance, we don’t know if that’s related to the flooding.
 
Ortiz left to pick up a few supplies, including a flashlight.
 
“I get scared because of no light and no water,” she said.
 
Some of the residents we talked to are going to stay with family members until the mess is cleaned up. But there is real concern for those that don’t have anywhere to go.
 
“They might have to go to a shelter house. Because they don’t have family some place close to here. They don’t have a car,” Ortiz said.
 
Fire rescue made sure the building was safe, and then clean up crews got to work trying to dry the building out.
 
But some residents wondered why more help wasn’t brought in to help those residents with illness or disabilities. 
 
Management asked us to leave the property without answering any of our questions about exactly what happened and how they are taking care of all the displaced seniors.
 
Late Tuesday afternoon at least some of the residents were allowed back in their apartments.