HOUSTON, Texas - Over 200 residents of a senior citizens home nearly lost everything in a fire on November 26th. Nearly four months later, many are still waiting to get their possessions back, thanks to the possibility of asbestos contamination.

Back in November, flames and smoke forced over 200 residents of the Bellerive senior housing complex out of their apartment homes. Residents have been allowed to return to the apartments once since the fire to some belongings, but many other belongings are still in the possession of the Housing Authority. The reason is that the fire may have released asbestos into the air, and those belonging - clothing, furnishings and other items - may be covered with the cancer-causing fibers. The cost of cleaning them is prohibitive.

Many of the residents are worried they could lose everything.

At a recent meeting of residents to discuss the issue, many expressed a desire to return to their homes. The housing authority says that items in 61 of the apartments are contaminated with asbestos, which has been proven to cause mesothelioma, a rare, aggressive cancer that is invariably fatal.

Kim Szeto, a representative of the Asian-American Family Center , said that a lot of the residents don’t believe their apartments are contaminated because they can’t see the asbestos. They just want proof.

Asbestos fibers are as much as 1200 times thinner than a human hair, and fractions of an inch long. Lighter than air, the tiny fibers can float in the air for long periods of time, and easily be carried into other areas of the building. Inhaled, they lodge in the lungs and other soft tissue and cause changes that lead to cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Szeto said that cleaning the items in the apartments can cost up to $3,400 per room, and that most of the residents can’t afford to pay that. The Housing Authority says that cleaning asbestos from personal items is not covered by their insurance policy. Residents will meet with a local cleanup company this week to try to negotiate a lower price to remove the asbestos from their belongings.

In the meantime, the Housing Authority is footing the bill for residents to live in other subsidized housing units. The Housing Authority is also applying for grants in the hopes of getting some of the cost paid for that way, and are appealing to the community and local corporations for aid and contributions to help residents.

Housing Authority officials have assured the residents and their families that the asbestos hazard did not exist in the building before the fire released it.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 5:31 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Texas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.