Repairs Requested Before Fatal San Francisco Public Housing Fire

A mother who died with her 3-year-old son in a fire in in their San Francisco, Calif., public housing unit apparently had requested that her smoke detectors be fixed two weeks earlier.

The San Francisco Examiner reported on Tuesday that contradicts a previous suggestion made by a housing authority attorney, who said the detectors were removed so that those in the unit could smoke methamphetamine.

The attorney says an electrician tried to come fix the detectors three different times but was rebuffed by an unknown woman. The attorney says the detectors were disassembled and stashed in a drawer.

Esther Ioane and her son, Santana Williams, died in the blaze on April 16.

Ioane’s family lawyer, Christopher Dolan, said the housing authority is trying to cover up its failure to fix the detectors.

Authorities say the cause of the fire is undetermined.