Didn’t Neglect Tenants, Owners of House Say

The owners of a house involved in a fatal fire in South-Central Los Angeles said Friday that their elderly and poor tenants were not neglected--despite neighbor’s comments that some of the house’s occupants appeared skinny and infirm. The owners, Leonard and Grace Fagan, both 77, live next door to the fire-ravaged house. They said the home was merely a “guest house” for people they knew who needed a place to stay. Rent was about $50 a month for a room, they said.

Authorities concluded that the fire on South Laurel Street near Watts was accidentally caused by a smoldering cigarette on a mattress. One tenant, Charles Smith, 67, died and four others were hospitalized, authorities said.

The State Department of Social Services requires a board-and-care license for commercial residential facilities providing non-medical care and supervision for the elderly. The Fagans said they did not have a license and did not need one. “We didn’t have no rest home,” Grace Fagan said.