Cause of Trowbridge fire could have been prevented by following the law

The fire that destroyed a two-family house on Trowbridge could possibly have been prevented if the owner had followed the law and registered it as a rental dwelling. That would have prompted an inspection, which may have uncovered an improperly installed gas heater.

The fire that destroyed a two-family house on Trowbridge could possibly have been prevented if the owner had followed the law and registered it as a rental dwelling. That would have prompted an inspection, which may have uncovered an improperly installed gas heater.

 

By Charles Sercombe
The cause of a two-story rental house fire on Trowbridge last week was an improperly installed gas-fed space heater.
That’s the determination of Fire Marshal Ron Cichecki.
The owner of the house failed to register the dwelling as a rental unit, which meant there had been no city inspection of it. It is illegal for homeowners to not register their rental properties.
“We have a lot of that in Hamtramck,” Cichecki said.
He said that had the house been registered, a required inspection would have caught the improperly installed space heater, and a number of other issues discovered in fighting the fire.
Some 10 people lived in the house, which also included an illegal apartment in the attic. The fire started on the second floor.
The fire went unreported for at least 15 minutes, Cichecki said, and when firefighters arrived the second and third floors were fully engaged. Because of the unique arrangement of the second floor apartment layout, firefighters couldn’t enter the dwelling from the rear.
Instead, firefighters had to enter by the balcony, which later collapsed in the fire.
Not helping matters that day were wind gusts of up to 30 miles per hour.
“The wind turned it into a blowtorch,” Cichecki said.
Tenants in the household were able to escape without injury.
City officials are currently seeking bids to tear down the hanging remnants of the porch and further secure the structure.
The family of the owner of the house has sent up a GoFundme site to raise money to demolish the house.
“The money that’s being raised will be put towards demolition of the home and cleaning it up. From the different estimations we have received, it is in the ballpark of $15,000-$20,000,” said Reazul Huda, a cousin of the owner, on the GoFundme site.
If the house is not demolished, Acting City Manager Kathy Angerer said there is little the city can do.
“We don’t have money to demolish it,” she said.
The owner of the house, she said, did not have insurance coverage.
The city, however, can take the owner to court to force the matter, but that can drag out. The city is currently tied up in court over a market on Holbrook that burned down over a year ago.
The market is still standing but was totaled in the fire.
The owner of that building says he is fighting with his insurance company to cover demolition costs.

Published November 3, 2017

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