The Window of Evidence, Fact, and Innocence
The fire involved the carpets of the upstairs north hallway and adjacent stairwell. This north stairwell’s window is visible from the only access point—the road and its adjacent sidewalk—to the Meadows Apartments. Investigators, officers, and residents never saw any sign of luminescent flames through the stairwell’s window. Emergency personnel would have been looking and would have noticed fire through the window on their approach. Even Ron did not notice any sign of fire until he entered the building, even though he approached the building from the road/sidewalk after his late-night walk and even passed directly in front (outside) of the stairwell’s window.
No residents ever showed an interest in approaching or looking through the north stairwell’s window from the outside to view the fire or its aftereffects, according to all available records. No one was shown attempting to look into that window. Most of the evacuated residents stayed just outside the building’s main (east) entrance. Some residents went to smoke or went to their cars to stay warm, where they would have passed into view to see the stairwell window, yet they didn’t report seeing a fire.