Faulty Fire Escape Leads to Charges

The owner of a downtown Los Angeles building was charged with a misdemeanor Friday after firefighters complained that as many as 40 residents had to be rescued by ladder during a fire last April because the fire escape was not in usable condition.

City attorney’s spokesman Mike Qualls said Bradley Thrasher, 33, a Wilshire District resident who owns Young Apartments at 1621 S. Grand Ave., was charged with violating a Fire Code regulation that requires fire escapes to be operable. He will be arraigned July 17 in Los Angeles Municipal Count.

When a pre-dawn fire broke out April 13 in the five-story, 67-unit building, Qualls said, firefighters found 30 to 40 tenants crowded onto the fire escape, unable to flee because the drop ladder was not working.

No one was injured in the blaze, which firefighters said was deliberately set.

Thrasher, who faces six months in County Jail and/or a $1,000 fine if convicted, pleaded no contest Jan. 29, 1985, to five counts of various code violations in connection with the same building, Qualls said. He was sentenced to 24 months’ summary probation and fined $2,500 on those charges.

Qualls said that at the arraignment, prosecutors will serve Thrasher with a notice of probation violation.

According to the city attorney’s office, the Young Apartments are being rehabilitated with a $1-million loan Thrasher received from the Community Redevelopment Agency. At the time, the Fire Department ordered him to fix life-threatening problems at the building before doing any other repairs, Qualls said.