On Monday, Dec. 30th, 2024, residents of 3003 Van Ness reported an apparent attempt to light a fire inside a hallway on the 7th floor of the South building. Those who observed the incidents said that the perpetrator may have been a former resident of the building.
Ashes in stairwell on South 7th floor, 3003 Van Ness
This attempted arson followed another unusual incident on Saturday, Dec. 28th, when a fire extinguisher was sprayed in the hallway of the South 7th floor. Video taken immediately following the incident shows extensive powder and footprints leading toward the exit elevator.
Fire extinguisher residue and footprints
RESIDENTS’ CONCERNS
These most recent attempts to set fire inside 3003 Van Ness follow another incident on Aug. 20th, 2023, in which an apparent non-resident spilled gasoline in a stairwell in an upper floor of the West building.
There are other serious reasons for concern:
Fire alarms have gone off dozens of times in the past year, as often as once a week or more. They occur so often that when an alarm goes off, many residents don’t leave their apartments because they assume that the incident is a false alarm.
The building management has not even informed residents about the arson attempt.
Building security is horrible at 3003 Van Ness. Over the past two and a half years, one or more exterior doors has been broken at almost all times, allowing easy access into the building. In addition, three to four doors from the underground garages have also been broken at almost all times, and the loading dock door is frequently left open. It is extremely easy to enter 3003 Van Ness, and any intruder who would want to create a problem of any sort could easily gain direct access to hallways.
The fire alarms at 3003 Van Ness do not connect directly to the DC Fire Department, but instead are routed to a third-party company, which decides whether to alert the Fire Department. Most residents don’t know this, so they assume that if in the event of a fire they pull an alarm the Fire Department will be directly alerted. This is not true — residents must call 911 to get quickly to the Fire Department.
There are many senior citizens and others living in the building, who would have trouble evacuating in the case of a fire.
Equity Residential has done little to address these issues in recent years. For example, until recently, it has made little effort to repair the exterior security doors. As evidence, the tenant association has recorded more than 80 videos of broken doors at 3003 Van Ness.
Equity Residential refuses to hire an experienced 24/7 security guard service despite a high number of security problems in the building. City records submitted at recent testimony before the DC Council show that residents of 3003 Van Ness make on average one call to 911 for assistance every day. Some of these are for serious incidents — in recent months residents have called 911 for reported stabbing, assault, theft, burglary, disorderly disturbance, domestic violence, sexual assault, aggravated assault, illegal firearms, drug dealing, overdoses, harassment, and fraud.
911 calls originating from 3003 Van Ness in October, 2024
The tenant association has tried repeatedly in the past to get Equity Residential senior management to take the security and fire risks seriously. For example, see the long list of posts about security issues.
Or see these past posts and letters to Equity Residential senior management regarding fire risks:
THE TENANT ASSOCIATION VERY STRONGLY RECOMMENDS THAT RESIDENTS EVACUATE THE BUILDING WHEN FIRE ALARMS GO OFF.
DESPITE THE FACT THAT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY FALSE ALARMS, THE RECENT ATTEMPT TO SET A FIRE IN THE HALLWAY SUGGEST THAT THERE IS A RISK OF AN ACTUAL FIRE. RESIDENTS SHOULD TAKE THIS RISK SERIOUSLY.
