Plugging Into the Problem

A recent death should spark concern about fire safety and outdated circuitry in older housing

For city dwellers living in low-income and student housing in the Capital Region, problems like tripped circuit breakers and flickering lights are annoying but commonplace. The hassle of having to unplug the toaster oven just to use the microwave is often seen as a mere nuisance of everyday life. But these issues point to a larger problem.

Electrical fire is a silent enemy. It starts within the walls of the oldest buildings in the area and often goes unnoticed until it leaves people homeless or even dead. At 3 AM on Nov. 13, for instance, a resident of Lincoln Avenue in Albany, Linda Giordana, died of smoke inhalation caused by an electrical fire that began in her kitchen.

As technology advances and appliances require more energy to run them, those living in older homes have become at greater risk for electrical fire. The larger amperage that modern appliances draw through circuits designed for lower currents can cause a wire’s insulation to wear thin. This creates a substantial amount of resistance heating and could create an arc-fault, or spark.

In addition, old houses have a tendency to collect dust and wood chips within the walls as they age, and these kinds of combustibles can provide an electrical short or arc with the fuel needed to ignite into flames. In the past five years, there have been more than 216 fires in Albany, Schenectady and Rensselaer counties due to electrical malfunction.

“The foundation for a house’s electric is the electrical panel,” said Frank, a certified electrician at Capital District Electric. “The fact is, most houses’ service panels in this area are from another time. . . . Microwaves, toaster ovens, freezers, they didn’t have those in the old days. . . . A lot of people are living in substandard conditions, where they have to unplug a number of appliances just to run a coffee pot, and that is just not right.”

But as many tenants realize, relying on a landlord to notice and fix a problem can be fruitless. Instead, renters often use numerous power strips and extension cords. This could intensify the risk of electrical fire, since cords often support only 10 to 15 amps, while many appliances, like vacuum cleaners and space heaters, can draw as high as 20.

“One of the critical things is to not overload circuits,” said Richard Barlette, chief of the Arson Bureau at the NYS Office of Fire Prevention and Control. “If the circuit breaker is constantly tripping or there are recurrent blown fuses, it’s a good indication that there’s too much electrical draw. . . . We run into situations where we see a lot of extension or “zip” cords, and that’s indicative of too few outlets located in the room.”

Fred Warner, vice president of The Electrical Inspectors, a private inspection agency in Albany, said that renters should “be more aggressive in getting their landlords to provide adequate lighting and receptacle outlets.”

“Both a tenant and a landlord share a particular liability,” said Warner. “Certainly there are [landlords] who would tax a system for as long as possible. . . . And then there are those who don’t understand the importance of an electrical system. . . . If they can’t see it, if it’s behind the walls, there’s not a problem.”

“My suggestion would be to contact the landlord, and if he or she is not responsive and does not address the needs, then [the occupant] should contact the local fire prevention [office] or inspector,” Barlette added.

Sean Andrews, a renter on Hudson Avenue in Albany and a University at Albany student, said his house is “a huge fire hazard.” “I have one outlet in my room, for my computer, my printer, my speakers, my lamps, everything,” he said. On the floor behind his computer desk is a power strip with eight plugs. According to An drews, no inspector has ever come to inspect any job done on the electrical system in his house.

The cost of updating an electrical system in an old house can sometimes be as high as $8,000, according to a quote from Capital District Electric. On the other hand, fines for electrical-code violations in Albany County are only $25 per violation, per day.

Warner, the electrical inspector, believes something more is needed to nudge landlords into covering upgrade costs. “I would think an eye-opener would be a much heavier fine and some jail time if one is able to find intentional negligence on behalf of the landlord,” he suggested.

As the winter months approach, and Christmas tree lights and space heaters appear, it is up to residents to take action. Information on preventing electrical fires is available at www.firesafety.gov.

—Ryan Judson

Causing a stir: Craig Allen. photo:Alicia Solsman

David Lussier

Where’s My Sign?

Underdog in the 11th Ward says the incumbent’s campaign didn’t play by the rules

On election night 2005, staf- fers for Green Party 11th Ward candidate David Lussier ran through the streets carrying homemade banners bearing their candidate’s name. It wasn’t that they had nothing better to do. They simply couldn’t find another way to get their candidate’s name in front of voters.

It’s not that they didn’t have lawn signs. They had lots of signs. They allege, however, that members of the campaign of the incumbent, Glen Casey, spent Election Day following them around in vans tearing down and confiscating any signs they posted.

By mid-afternoon, they say, things got dirtier than they ever expected. They alleged Casey campaign treasurer Joseph Brady physically restrained a volunteer who was trying to stop him from stealing their signs.

Lussier, along with his campaign manager and head of the local Green Party, Peter Lavenia, and the Lussier campaign volunteers said they spent the early-morning hours being tailed by a van, a red SUV and a luxury car. “We had permission from this nice man to put signs on his property,” said Stephen Heath, Lussier campaign worker. “I’d post signs, go back a half-hour later, and they would be replaced by Casey signs—and they didn’t have permission to post them there.”

Lavenia added, “I thought once the sun came up it would stop. I didn’t think they would be so brazen as to do it in front of polling places in broad daylight.” However, staffers claimed the same thing went on all day.

Trailed by vans and SUVs, staffers would return to spots where they had posted signs one minute before, only to see them gone or replaced with Casey signs. In fact, staffer Stephen Heath said he began to time the disappearance of signs from the time they were posted because he was impressed with the efficiency of the sign thieves.

It’s known that the Casey campaign was upset with the Green Party, because Lussier’s name was included on a press release put out Oct. 27 by all three of Casey’s opponents that claimed to have “evidence” that Casey, in his role working for the Assembly, was providing quid pro quos to out-of-city campaign donors. It turned out they only had a list of donors who don’t appear to have any direct interest in the 11th Ward, but no actual evidence of wrongdoing. Lussier has since distanced himself from the press release.

As polling places opened, stolen signs became only one of the Lussier campaign’s worries. According to election law, anyone who needs assistance in voting can be accompanied by someone they select as long as that person is not an employer or union representative. If voters needing help do not have someone in particular to assist them, then they may be assisted by election inspectors of two different “political faiths.”

However, Lussier volunteer Lydia Lednyack alleged that a Casey inspector was escorting voters into the booths by herself.

Lednyack, who speaks Russian, claimed the inspector would ask voters, “ ‘Are you a Democrat?’ and they would say, ‘Yes, yes,’ . . . and then she would point straight down the Democratic line and say ‘Here is where you vote.’ She stood there at the front of the line and would ask everyone that came up, ‘Do you need help?’ and they would say ‘Yeah.’ ”

Calls to Glen Casey and Democratic Ward 11 leader Joe Jennings were not returned in time for this story. The person who answered the phone at the county Democratic headquarters responded, “You’ll have to call Mexico to speak to Betty Barnette.”

Mid-afternoon, outside a polling place, Lussier volunteer Sally Kim decided she’d had enough. When she spotted a group of men pulling Lussier signs from a lawn and putting them in their trunk, she confronted them and demanded they stop. Kim alleged the men told her the signs were illegally placed. She told the men they were not illegally placed, and that they had permission from the landowner, then noticed that all the signs they had gathered were Lussier signs and that Democratic Party signs in the same place had not been touched. Kim said that as she reached into the vehicle’s trunk to retrieve a stack of Lussier signs, Casey treasurer Joseph Brady grabbed her arm to restrain her, and berated her as he finished putting Lussier signs in the trunk with his other hand. Kim took down the license plates of the vehicles and filed a report with police.

Lavenia also filed a complaint with District Attorney David Soares’ election-fraud unit and plans to file a thorough, detailed complaint with the Board of Elections. Glen Casey, Joseph Brady and the APD did not return repeated calls.

As daylight dimmed to an evening haze on Election Day 2005, David Lussier staffers felt despondent. “It felt like they were beating up on an 8-year-old,” said Lussier. Knowing that they had run out of signs and would likely have them torn down anyway, staffers created cloth banners with Lussier’s name and held them up for passing cars in the evening’s drizzle.

Said Lavenia, “We knew that if they wanted to take these down they would have to tear them from our hands.”

—David King

dking@metroland.net

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