On Oct. 14, fire raced through several units at the Woodmark apartment complex in Tacoma after someone left food unattended on a stove. Now more than a dozen former tenants are suing owners of the complex, including one woman who says the urn containing her daughter’s ashes was stolen by looters.
Rebecca Reed said she heard shouting outside her door, thinking someone was having an argument.
“The man that lives upstairs from us was yelling, there’s a fire, there’s a fire, get out,” said Reed.
Reed’s apartment was spared, but because of a lengthy investigation, she and her husband weren't allowed to go back in and get their belongings for close to two weeks. When they finally got the chance they were given just three hours to get their things. But once they walked in, Reed realized someone had looted their home, taking everything.
“It was like hate,” Reed said choking back tear. “It was so unexpected really.”
Reed says the hardest loss was the ashes of her daughter Jennifer, known to the family as Jenny Lee, who died in a traffic accident in 2009. The urn holding her ashes was taken along with family heirlooms and other valuables, including her grandfather’s collection of string instruments.
Reed says the staff at the Woodmark failed to secure the apartments once the tenants were forced out by the fire, even leaving front doors standing open and leaving belongings as easy targets for thieves.
Reed is one of 13 people now suing the Woodmark and their parent company because of losses caused by the fire, including one woman who was badly burned as she fled her apartment.
“I want my granddaughter, I want my daughters, I want my son to see justice,” Reed said.
KIRO 7 called the Woodmark’s management office for comment on the lawsuit. The call was not returned.