When the fire alarm went off, Kala Millian Scott was in her apartment unit on the top floor of the Reserve at LaVista Walk, just below the clock tower. She had just hopped in the shower after finishing an Uber Eats delivery shift that she worked after her day job.
Between the screeches of the fire alarm, Scott could hear her two sons, Kaleb, 9, and Kaden, 7, playing in the living room. Staying in the shower wasn’t exactly irresponsible of her at the time—it was the third alarm at the complex that week. False fire alarms at the complex were so common that residents had learned to shrug them off.
When the sounds of her sons roughhousing grew louder, Scott stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. “Quit it! We have neighbors,” she shouted into the living room…