DC man sues over being left inside fire-gutted senior centre

WASHINGTON – An elderly man found trapped in his senior living apartment five days after the complex was gutted by fire is suing the property’s manager.

WTOP-FM reports Raymond Holton accuses the Edgewood Management Corp. of falsely telling firefighters that all the residents had been accounted for after the September fire at the Arthur Capper Senior Homes in Washington, D.C.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday also accuses the Maryland-based company of intentionally disabling the alarm system before the fire and failing to secure the building from vagrants.

Fire spokesman Dough Buchanan said Holton, 74 at the time, was found sitting in a chair in his apartment. The lawsuit says Holton was trapped with no water and spoiled food.

Edgewood representative Julie Chase says it’s too early to comment on the lawsuit.

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Information from: WTOP-FM, http://www.wtop.com