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COPYRIGHT 2003 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News
San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jan. 13--Lucy Sanft huddled under sheets and blankets in her parents' bedroom as smoke poured through her family's East Palo Alto home. The bedroom door was closed. The room's only window led not outside, but to yet another room, one that officials later would say was built without proper permits, inspections or approvals.
A day after the accidental fire Dec. 25, Lucy, 13, died of complications from smoke inhalation.
Firefighters say they may never know what role, if any, the illegal room played in Lucy's death. But the existence of the room -- which the city had knowledge of, according to documents examined by the Mercury News -- has highlighted the city's continuing problem with illegal additions.
Public records show that in 1997 a city building inspector flagged the illegal unit and ordered the homeowners, Lucy's parents, to correct the problem....
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