Oakland Tribune

Residents to return to apartments
Second possible death from gas leak investigated

November 30, 1999

By William Brand and Cecily Burt
STAFF WRITERS

BERKELEY — City and PG&E officials Monday evening cleared tenants to return to their apartments in a building where a teen-ager died last week, apparently from carbon monoxide poisoning.

At the same time, police are looking into whether another tenant of the 106-unit building may have also died from the gas last December. The family of the 60-year-old man, whose cause of death was ruled a heart attack, has asked authorities to take another look, police Capt. Bobby Miller said. The coroner ruled the man's death was from natural causes.

Wednesday's apparent car-bon monoxide poisoning of Seetha Vemireddy, 17, in her Bancroft Avenue apartment has prompted many calls to the city and PG&E from residents worried about the safety of their gas furnaces, officials said.

While homicide investigators and city building and PG&E inspectors combed the apartment building at 2020 Bancroft Ave., PG&E also red-tagged a heater at another building at 1626 Dwight Way. The carbon monoxide reading in one apartment was 1,729 parts per million. Readings higher than 100 parts per million are considered hazardous.

Four other apartments in the Dwight Way building were found to be safe, but eight apartments had not yet been tested, said property manager Julie Wang. Wang has sent letters to all tenants asking them to contact PG&E and have their heaters tested. Berkeley planner Peggy Kirihara said she will follow up with PG&E to make sure the inspections are completed.

At the four-story Bancroft Avenue building, carbon monoxide readings were zero Monday in the 27 apartments ordered evacuated last week. The gas has been shut off in each, and the owners purchased space heaters for the tenants until contractors can pinpoint the problems and fix the faulty wall heaters, said Deputy City Manager Weldon Rucker.

That won't be easy, he said. Although a blockage can be clearly seen in the victim's apartment, the other apartments in the complex have ventilation systems that are off center and it's not easy to see what's inside.

Rucker said he was getting pressure from tenants who kept dropping in through the day to find out when they could return, but his main concern was making sure the building was safe.

One resident, Bill White, a member of the Berkeley Police Review Commission, said he will ask the city to look at the problem throughout Berkeley.

"I think I'm lucky because my apartment has four windows and I always leave a window open," White said. "I thought I had the flu last week, but now I'm not sure."

Inspectors found carbon monoxide levels 10 times higher than normal in several apartments in the Bancroft Avenue building last Wednesday. The apartment where Vemireddy was killed and her sister, Lalith Vemireddy, was overcome and later hospitalized, had a reading over 2,000 parts per million.

Monday afternoon, police technicians carried out the rusted wall furnace from the Vemireddy apartment. Homicide Sgt. Henry Paige said the investigation is continuing.

Police believe the teen-ager's death was caused by carbon monoxide, colorless, odorless gas, but they are awaiting county coroner toxicology reports.

"We are getting a lot of calls (from concerned residents) for furnace inspections," said Petra Garate of PG&E. "Not everyone mentions the death specifically, but I know what they are talking about. They're worried."

Mayor Shirley Dean said City Hall has received many calls and there has been a rush on carbon monoxide detectors.

"I was at Costco over the weekend," Dean said. "I saw the detectors in lots of shopping carts and I thought it was a good idea. I bought the last three on the shelf."

Dean will ask the city at its next meeting to change building codes to make carbon monoxide detectors mandatory in apartment buildings, just like smoke detectors. She also wants the city manager to contact all apartment owners to let them know they not only have to provide heat, but also make sure it is safe.

She is also recommending stiffer fines for contractors who perform work without city permits.

Rucker said most roofers do not apply for permits, even though they are technically required.

Richard Schwartz, a Dwight Way tenant who called PG&E out for an inspection, said he was worried because the building was reroofed during the summer, just like the apartment building at 2020 Bancroft.

Wang said she is waiting for permission from the other tenants to enter the apartment and fix the furnace.



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Residents can request a PG&E heater inspection by calling (800) 743-5000.