The room was damaged, but not charred-looking. And residents who had been evacuated from the wing had returned.
So why did administrators allegedly get so upset when Margoles took photos of the damage?
Citing patient-privacy laws, Glendale Uptown Home's Executive Director Diane Donnelly wouldn't comment on what did or did not go down with Margoles at the privately owned, skilled-nursing facility at 7800 Bustleton Ave.
Nor did she share an opinion about my being able to enter Kirk's room when Kirk's own daughter couldn't.
She did, though, describe the June 30 fire as being so small "it was over in four minutes."
As for Margoles, 53, she admits that she can be nudge-y when it comes to her 82-year-old mom, for whom she is sole advocate.
"She's the love of my life," says Margoles, a Philadelphia public-school teacher who is divorced and has a college-age son.
So, her antennae went up when Glendale called to say that there had been a fire and that Kirk would be moved temporarily to another floor. Margoles went to Glendale to check on Kirk and to retrieve her mom's smoky-smelling clothes, for washing.
She says that there was a "caution" tape atop the doorway to the wing and that the hallway looked normal. On a whim, she pulled out her camera and took six photos of the damaged room.
"I don't know what made me do it," she says. "My mom is old, I felt worried. It just seemed like something I should do."
She says that an administrator saw her with the camera and asked her to come to the main office, where several other administrators accused her of trespassing.
"They told me to delete the photos or they'd have me arrested," Margoles says.
Stunned and scared, Margoles refused. An argument ensued. Finally, she says, she gave her camera to an administrator, who deleted the photos.
