By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – The operator of a group home destroyed in a fatal fire has a history of fire safety violations at its homes for the mentally ill.
Inspections documents provided today to The Associated Press show that facilities owned by Robert and LaVerne DuPont were cited on several occasions for broken fire alarms and exit signs.
They also were cited for failing to conduct a fire inspection one year, and failing to have an emergency call system for some residents at one of their facilities.
The DuPonts described the fire safety citations as minor.
The state health department said it did not have statewide figures to determine whether the Duponts' facilities were cited more frequently than other residential care centers.