St. Regis blaze prompts alarm awareness

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Metro fire investigators say they know what kept a building's alarm system from going off during a serious fire early Thursday morning.

Firefighters arrived at the St. Regis building early Thursday where residents like Ervin Bizzle quickly evacuated amid smoke filled hallways inside.

"I'm lucky that ... I was like that that close, because the fire was like right underneath me," said Bizzle.

We got a look inside where the fire started and destroyed an apartment. The resident got out okay and while we did see a smoke detector we're told the building fire alarm itself did not go off.

"I'm on the other end of the building. It should've went off because as soon as you opened the door, the whole hallway was full of smoke ... it was full of smoke!" said resident R.C. Small.

We found inspectors scoping out the building Thursday afternoon. After checking various alarm boxes they found they were all in working order.

The building was built back in 1926. It's an old building which means it has old fire alarm pull systems, but the problem is- in order for it to work, you actually have to pull it down.

Inspectors say no one used any of the pull stations. They say literally hundreds of old, city buildings, specifically those built before 1986, have these alarms. Anything built after 1986 must meet the current fire code which includes sprinklers and systems that automatically alert IFD dispatch downtown. The building's brand new owner plans to renovate.

"We're researching right now and we're going to make sure we have it up and running by the end of the day and like I say, it was a surprise to us. We've been working on the building slowly trying to get some things up to par with our management" said Chris Piazza.
Fire officials have ruled the cause of the fire as accidental. We're told that the building is only half occupied. Plans are to eventually turn it into a living space for artists. The renovation will include fire code upgrades.