The parents of Melanie Diaz have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the owners and management company of the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex following her death in a fire last year.
25-year-old Diaz and her two dogs died in the three-alarm fire on February 18, 2023, that displaced four hundred residents. At least 89 apartments were deemed ‘unsafe to occupy.’
Diaz’s parents, Cesar Linares and Zuleika Ojeda, filed the lawsuit on her 27th birthday, claiming financial losses from funerary expenses and loss of income, as well as pain and suffering, and mental anguish resulting from her death, according to MoCo360.
They are seeking $2.3 million in damages and a jury trial.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege that Trinity Property Consultants and the owner, CP4 Silver Spring, failed to maintain the property’s fire safety equipment, including fire doors on evacuation stairwells, smoke detectors, and fire alarms; failed to maintain electrical systems; and did not instruct its residents on proper fire safety procedures.
According to Multifamily Dive, both Trinity Property Consultants and CP4 Silver Spring are based at the same address in Irvine, California.
The County Council passed new tenant safety regulations earlier this summer, prompted by the Arrive Silver Spring fire and a power outage at The Grand apartment complex in North Bethesda.
Bill 7-24, Landlord-Tenant Relations – Tenant Protection and Notification, was authored and introduced by Council Vice President Kate Stewart and mandates that residential leases contain information regarding renter’s insurance, automatic sprinkler systems, and emergency evacuation and safety plans.
County Executive Marc Elrich signed the legislation into law on August 8.
“I started writing this bill more than a year ago, after a fire took the life of Melanie Diaz at the Arrive apartment building, followed not long after by a power outage that put many elderly people at risk at The Grand in North Bethesda,” Stewart said in July. “These kinds of dangerous incidents, and others my office looked into at the prompting of residents around the County, can be avoided by improving communication and emergency planning in multifamily rental properties. I listened carefully to the concerns of residents, and I wrote this bill in close collaboration with our County permitting and housing agencies. We can and need to make real strides to protect people where it matters most – in their homes.”
According to MoCo360, the passage of the legislation follows the Maryland General Assembly’s adoption during its 2024 session of a bill sponsored by Delegate Lorig Charkoudian that requires apartment complexes to take stronger fire safety measures, including installing fire alarms and emergency lights in common areas and requiring fire safety education and evacuation information to be provided to tenants.
Photo: Pete Piringer / X (Formerly Twitter)