A Tamarac house fire killed 2 elderly people. Was the house used as an unlicensed ALF?
The Tamarac home where a fire killed two senior citizens Wednesday is being investigated to determine whether it was being used as an assisted-living facility, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said Thursday afternoon.
If an ALF was being operated out of 7305 NW 65th St., it appears it would be an unlicensed, illegal facility. The Florida Agency of Health Care Administration website shows 12 ALFs in Tamarac, none of which have that address.
BSO said Tamarac Fire Rescue and North Lauderdale Fire Rescue answered the house fire report, which came in just after 5 p.m. Fire rescue workers declared one adult woman dead on the scene. An adult male was taken to a hospital, where he died. Herald news partner CBS4 put the woman’s age at 76 and the man’s at 102.
As for how many people lived there, Cilla Dawes told WSVN-Channel 7 Wednesday night, there were six: “It was originally me and my mother there. And then she had other people come to live there.”
Broward County property records say the 1,372-foot house has two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Sale records show that Dawes paid $73,000 for the house in a 2012 short sale. State records show Dawes formed Dawes Real Estate Holdings on Jan. 22, 2019. Broward sale records say Dawes lateraled the house via quit claim deed to Dawes Real Estate Holdings on Feb. 4, 2019.
To run an ALF, it would help to have a licensed medical professional available. Cilla Dawes is not one. But Dawes Real Estate Holdings’ manager registered with the state is Azra Dawes.
An Azra Dawes of Tamarac has been a licensed practical nurse since 1987, according to the Florida Department of Health’s license verification site.
