Did New Bedford drop the ball on fire code enforcement of rooming house?
NEW BEDFORD — In the days following the deadly March 28 fire at the Royal Crown Lodge rooming house at 1301-1307 Acushnet Ave., New Bedford Fire Chief Scott Kruger had told news outlets, including The Standard-Times, that there were no open fire code violations on record for the site at the time of the blaze. It's a statement that has been called into question since details, such as past complaints about the property, have come to light. But are implications that the city shirked its duty on fire code enforcement there valid?
City records and an opinion from the Mass. Department of Fire Services would suggest they are not.
What is verifiable is that several violations discovered by the fire department via a resident's July 25, 2022 email — such as a door found to be nailed shut, missing smoke alarms, and a fire escape landing with wood blocking access between the second floor and ground level — were inspected and confirmed to be addressed within days of receiving the email, according to city records.
It is also true that in 2013, the city adopted M.G.L. c. 148, s. 26H, a state statute requiring the installation of sprinkler systems "in lodging houses or boarding houses where lodgings are let to six or more unrelated persons." While the legislation — which Mass. cities and towns had the option to adopt or not — entailed a grace period of five years, it wouldn't be until Kruger became fire chief in late 2020 that the process of officially putting landlords on notice began, including the owners of 1301-1307 Acushnet Ave., whose letter of notice is dated July 2, 2021.
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After suggestions by city officials that the status of the site's compliance with city fire code has been misrepresented in recent media reports, The Standard-Times took a look into city records, and spoke with the fire chief, Mass. Department of Fire Services and others to gauge the role city fire code enforcement, or any lack thereof, may have played in the March 28 fire.
July 2022 violations reported, quickly addressed
The following is a timeline of recent events relative to 1301-1307 Acushnet Ave. based on city documents:
June 7, 2022: City Building Inspector Robert Carreiro inspected building and listed 13 violations in a handwritten report, including a side door not opening, and the need for a five-year certification of a fire escape.
June 8, 2022: Documents from Professional Fire & Security, Inc., Assonet, show quote of $85,588.85 for installation of sprinkler system.
June 14, 2022: License to operate a hotel/motel/or rooming house granted to co-owner Kenneth Hoffman, Jr., signed by New Bedford Health Director Damon Chaplin.
July 25, 2022: A resident emails Mayor Jon Mitchell, Chief Kruger and Building Commissioner Danny Romanowicz, using the subject line "Death trap," to report "Doors nailed shut," "No hall lights," "Smoke Alarms missing," and "Inadequate fire escape with trap door."
July 26, 2022: A memo signed by Matthew Silvia of New Bedford Inspectional Services' building division states he and New Bedford Fire Department Captain Kurt Houghton instructed a building manager to "unbolt door and make necessary repairs." "Captain Kurt Houghton and I had confirmed later that day that the door was unbolted and accessible," Silvia's memo reads.
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Also on July 26, 2022: New Bedford Fire Department sends final notice to install sprinkler system.
July 27, 2022: Chief Kruger forwards Captain Kurt Houghton the resident's "Death trap" email; asks for Houghton to follow up.
Later that same day, Houghton reportedly alerts the Building Department and inspects the building; instructs property manager John Melo to remove a board from the Tallman Street exit door and install battery-operated smoke detectors until an electrician can fix any issues with the fire alarm system. Houghton confirms that later in the day the board had been removed from the door, and that the "fire escape was free and clear of all obstructions." Houghton also says he tested "numerous battery-operated detectors that were in working order" during a walk-through.
Also on July 27, 2022: Hoffman forwards sprinkler system proposal from Professional Fire & Security, Inc. to Kruger, and reports that New Bedford authorized contractor R.J. Canessa Excavation had been contacted about tying in city water supply.
July 28, 2022: Documents show New Bedford-based Ace Security tested the alarm system in conjunction with the fire department, with satisfactory results.
"Early the following week," Houghton reportedly performs another walk-through with Building Inspector Robert Carreiro and Lt. Alcino Marques of the Fire Department, confirming "all violations were corrected."
January 2023: A document dated only "January 2023," submitted to the New Bedford Fire Department, produced by Engineering Planning and Management, Inc., Framingham, shows detailed engineering plans for sprinkler system.
Jan. 9, 2023: New Bedford Health Department issues License to Operate a Hotel/Motel/or Rooming House.
Feb. 23, 2023: City of New Bedford permits contractor Aglow Power Electric to work on smoke alarm system.
Feb. 27, 2023: City of New Bedford permits installation of sprinkler system to contractor Ocean State Fire Protection.
Also on Feb. 27, 2023: Health Department inspects building; reports health code violations, unrelated to aforementioned fire code violations.
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March 21, 2023: Owning party Kenneth Hoffman, Jr. granted lodging house license renewal by city licensing board.
March 23, 2023: Building permit granted to install sprinkler system.
March 24, 2023: Building permit granted for fire escape improvements.
March 28, 2023: Fire determined by investigators to have started by a resident's use of a microwave destroys building and claims two lives.
What was wrong on March 28?
According to Kruger, on the day of the fire, anything that would be considered by the fire department to be an "open fire code violation" had been resolved to the best of the department's knowledge.
While there have been reports that access between the second floor fire escape landing and ground level had once again been blocked by boards by then, Kruger said it hadn't been reported since the last inspection confirmed access had been cleared, with permanent upgrades having been approved by the city just days before the fire; and the smoke alarm system, which is what initially alerted the department of the March 28 fire, was working properly.
Sprinkler system projects aren't a quick turnaround, chief says
One fire department-related issue yet to be resolved at the time of the fire was installation of the building's sprinkler system, which documents show was well on its way to getting done. A report submitted to the city, dated June 8, 2022 and containing a quote of $85,588.85, shows the landlords had engaged with a contractor for the project by that point or sooner.
"These people had done all the background work to get it done, the easy part is actually installing it," Kruger said.
A late start for sprinkler enforcement?
"When I became chief in late '20, I began the process to enforce this," Kruger said of the sprinkler statute. "And then in June of '21 we were able to have the date and the correct orders to go out to landlords."
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The city's 2013 adoption of M.G.L. c. 148, s. 26H entailed a 5-year grace period for landlords that was exceeded by the time first notices went out. But is that to be considered unlawful or egregious? An opinion of the Mass. Department of Fire Services suggests neither.
"MGL c. 148, s. 26H, sets requirements on lodging and boarding houses in communities that adopt the statute, not on the communities themselves," Mass. DFS Public Information Officer Jake Wark wrote in a counsel-reviewed email response. "The law is a tool for local officials to use, and the exact manner in which they use it after the 5-year grace period is at their discretion.
"We have found that New Bedford FD places a strong emphasis on fire protection and code compliance."
Pandemic meant project delays
While Kruger says the fire department expects quick turnaround on correcting issues such as a blocked egress or missing smoke alarms, according to the chief, installation of sprinkler systems will often go on over a year, especially for a site like 1301 Acushnet Ave., which he notes as being on the larger side among New Bedford's rooming houses.
Kruger said the scope of a sprinkler project for a site like this one entails: hiring an engineer to determine system requirements; obtaining data on a site's water supply; getting plans drafted; bringing the plans to and hiring a contractor to deliver a quote; hiring a fire alarm contractor to ultimately connect a building's sprinkler to its alarm system; permitting from the fire and building departments; a street disturbance permit to connect the system to a water supply, and more.
"And once all that stuff is done and signed off on, then you can actually begin the work, which for a building that size would probably take some time," Kruger said.
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In addition, Kruger says supply chain issues caused by the pandemic has plagued landlords and contractors with delays on projects such as alarm and sprinkler systems.
"I’m not trying to make it seem like this is an unattainable goal, it will get done, it’s just you have set your expectations reasonably," Kruger said.
Legal aspect factors in
Regardless of any fulfilled legal obligations, whether or not city departments should have put more pressure on landlords to comply with the sprinkler statue sooner appears to be a matter of opinion. While they'd like to see compliance as quickly as possible, Kruger and New Bedford Chief of Staff Neil Mello say the city must think of potential court outcomes when considering punitive measures.
"It's always about working towards completion. You can say I want this done in two weeks, but they might say I can't get parts, there's a four-month backlog on this or that, and what're you going to do — take them to court?," Kruger said. "The judge is going to say, Chief, they can’t get the materials, what do you want them to do?"
In the case of 1301 Acushnet Ave., Kruger said the amount of work that had been completed toward sprinkler installation was an example of "a show of good faith" that is looked upon favorably by judges, and the fire department.
Beyond a case-by-case basis, Mello says "demonstrating a history of reasonableness" is imperative for the city to win cases against landlords when necessary.
"If you don’t have that foundation, when you go to take an aggressive action … courts are going to presumably look upon that with suspicion," he said.
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Mello also noted that the function of city inspections is not to block the issuance of licensing, but rather the licensing process is meant to trigger the required inspections that accompany issuance of various types of licenses, such as the Health Department's Jan. 21 licensing that entailed a Feb. 27 health inspection. That inspection resulted in reporting of several health code violations, according to a report.
Landlords' lawyer: Owners 'dismayed' at public perceptions
Upon contacting property co-owner Kenneth Hoffman, Jr., he said any questions should be directed to the owners' Boston-based attorney Richard Riley, who said: "Generally speaking, my clients have done a great deal of work and incurred a great deal of expense in... making renovations and improvements to various aspects of the property and taking care of it and the tenants....
"They're actually... I don't know what word to use except 'distressed' or 'dismayed,' at some of the comments that are going around in terms of them looking at nothing but profits."
Attempts to reach three other co-owners by phone were unsuccessful.
City to run a status check on rooming house compliance
Kruger said currently, out of about 35 rooming houses in New Bedford, 14 sprinkler systems have been completed, two are waiting for a city water connection, "and the others were in some stage of compliance."
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Since March 28, the chief said discussions between himself and city officials have been taking place, and that the city planned to make it out to the city's rooming houses for a general check-up and to get an updated assessment of where properties stand with sprinkler compliance.
"We’re going to get the inspectors in to do a round and stay consistent with our enforcement of 26H," Kruger said, "and now that we’re kind of passed the pandemic and a lot of issues thwarting a lot of this work, I think hopefully we’ll be able to get people into compliance a lot quicker."
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Sources suggest no lack of fire code enforcement at NB roominghouse
