Smoke detector problems and inspection delays prevalent for public housing complexes across the Central Valley

When firefighters had to pull three people out of burning apartments at the Sunnyside Glen complex in 2017, smoke detectors may have saved the elderly and disabled residents.

They haven't always been there.

Federal inspectors had found the housing complex missing functional detectors in 2015 and again in 2016, when they also flagged at least one safety problem deemed life-threatening. But inspectors didn't come back for more than two years.

An exclusive analysis of federal data shows that smoke detector problems and inspection delays are prevalent across the Central Valley -- at more than 80% of the housing complexes getting public funding.

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson blamed the ongoing issues on a breakdown in the federal inspection process.

"When I came to HUD the place quite frankly was a mess. There are a lot of things that need to be corrected, and they aren't corrected overnight, but we are making significant progress," Carson said. "What we did last year is undertake a comprehensive review. We are changing the whole REAC system to account for the fact that over the past decade it simply has not been adequate."

Across the country, more than 1 million Americans are living in federally-funded housing complexes where inspectors have found there were not enough working smoke detectors.

In thousands of those complexes, the problems showed up on inspection after inspection.

ABC Owned Television Stations obtained and analyzed records from every published federal government inspection of subsidized housing since 2014 and found more than 11,000 complexes nationwide cited for missing, broken or otherwise inadequate smoke alarms.

That's 41% of all complexes run by public housing authorities or private landlords who get subsidies from taxpayers across the country. Many are home to elderly and disabled residents.

The problem in some cities was worse. Half or more of the complexes in New York, Houston and Chicago had been cited for not making sure smoke detectors were in place and working. In the suburbs of Bayonne, Newark and Jersey City in New Jersey, it was two-thirds of properties.

At more than 4,000 low-income housing sites nationwide, the ABC stations' exclusive data analysis reveals inspectors found smoke alarm problems on more than one inspection from 2014 through 2019.

The data analysis also found:

  • At three of every four public housing complexes where inspectors discovered smoke detector problems, the inspectors also reported other dangers they considered "life-threatening" such as electrical hazards and blocked fire exits. At more than 8,000 facilities, life-threatening dangers showed up on multiple inspections.
  • Despite knowing about smoke alarms and other safety problems, government inspectors returned to inspect properties months or even years behind schedule. About 90% of complexes with smoke alarm problems were inspected late, based on HUD's rules.
  • Among the public housing facilities cited for smoke alarm problems were more than 2,800 complexes serving the elderly and 775 more serving disabled residents.

The federal government posts all of its inspection scores and some details about deficiencies - such as smoke detector problems - on HUD's public website and updates the records regularly. The most recently published data listing the inspection scores, which ABC reviewed, is current through 2019 for the vast majority of properties. In some states, the latest inspections published for public housing authorities were in 2018.

The investigation did not find problems with the smoke alarms or their manufacturers. Many of those companies work year in and out with fire departments and volunteer groups to give away detectors to anyone who needs them.

Rather, the investigation focused on the federal government's failure to make sure owners - whether they are public housing authorities or private landlords who receive federal subsidies - ensure their properties meet federal safety standards. That includes making sure smoke alarms are in place and working.

The federal rules say owners must install detectors in every home or apartment and check back regularly to make sure they work. That includes replacing batteries, which the rules say is among the owners' responsibilities. Owners also must set rules forbidding tenants from disabling smoke alarms.

Owners who don't follow federal guidelines can be penalized. For example, private landlords can lose the government money they're getting for providing safe housing.

HUD inspectors score a housing complex on a range of factors, including health and fire safety measures. They take special note of whether smoke detectors are present, and if they work.

Their score determines a target date for the next inspection, which ranges from one to three years.

Since 2014, more than 40% of complexes nationwide failed that smoke detector test. Thousands failed multiple inspections.

Our investigation found more than 75% of all inspections were overdue based on HUD's own guidelines.

And among those complexes where inspectors found smoke detector problems, 90% also had overdue inspections.

Experts who study fires say people are more likely to be hurt or killed in fires in structures without working smoke detectors.

Thousands of fires happen in public housing complexes every year, according to an analysis of federal data. That includes many complexes where records show that HUD's inspections have found smoke alarm issues.

The head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is responsible for inspecting the housing complexes to make sure they are safe, said the federal agency is aware of the problems and is working on them.

Carson told ABC's WTVD that the agency is working to improve its oversight system - to make sure smoke alarms are in place and that inspections happen on time. Carson said the agency is in the process of overhauling its inspection system.

"We have issued warnings to all the public housing authorities and we have increased inspection activity when it comes to smoke detectors," Carson said.

Carson, and other HUD officials, said sometimes residents disable smoke alarms. Whenever inspectors or other housing officials identify problem alarms, they're required to fix them immediately.

About this data. ABC Owned Television Stations worked with lists of inspection summaries that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes on its web site and periodically updates. The records provide summary-level information about each of its inspections of housing owned and operated by public housing authorities and privately-owned housing complexes where landlords receive taxpayer money in exchange for providing affordable housing. All of the housing must meet federal Housing Quality Standards. The published inspection lists are here for public housing and here for private/subsidized housing.

The lists show the most recent (usually three) inspections for each property, including the date, the overall inspection score on a scale of 0 to 100 and additional special notations about smoke detectors and the severity of any health and safety problems that inspectors recorded. We used HUD's guidelines for how often inspectors must return - which is one to three years depending on the last inspection score - to determine whether the two most recent inspections happened on time or were overdue.

ABC used HUD's inventories of public and private housing complexes to gather addresses, ownership information and to estimate the number of residents in a complex. For public housing, the estimate is based on HUD's reported census of the property. For privately-owned complexes, the analysis uses a conservative estimate of two persons per unit - well below the average for other HUD-regulated housing across the country. Among private subsidized housing, we only used those complexes where owners were actively receiving assistance as of the end of 2019.

The information posted here about each property translates the scores and codes from those inspection lists, using HUD definitions published here and several other places on the agency's web site and in federal regulatory documents, so that residents and others can better understand what HUD reports was found on each inspection. The data published here is only as up to date as HUD's published lists for public housing, which was last updated in April 2019, and privately-owned assisting housing, including inspections through December 2019. HUD periodically updates these files with more recent inspections, so 2020 inspections do not appear in our database. We care deeply about accuracy. If you have questions about this data, let us know.

About this investigation: see what we found in cities across the country

This investigation is part of a new data journalism collaboration across ABC Owned Television Stations. Data journalists obtained and analyzed computerized records about hundreds of thousands of housing inspections and fires and journalists in each of our eight local newsrooms investigated safety issues impacting residents in their local communities. You can explore what our investigators uncovered in their local communities by clicking the stations' logos below.

This story is coming soon!

Data analysis, web development, animation and graphics by John Kelly, Grace Manthey, Jonathan Fagg and Adriana Aguilar. Reporting by Danielle Leigh and Stephen Cioffi of WABC in New York, Rob Hayes, Julia Seifer and Grace Manthey of KABC in Los Angeles, Chuck Goudie, Ross Weidner and Jonathan Fagg of WLS in Chicago, Chad Pradelli and Cheryl Mettendorf of WPVI in Philadelphia, and Melanie Woodrow of KGO in San Francisco, Ted Oberg and Sarah Rafique of KTRK in Houston, Joel Brown of WTVD in Raleigh, N.C. and Corin Hoggard of KFSN in Fresno, Calif.

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