March 31, 2017
The Associated Press reports that inspectors have discovered that an apartment building in a California neighborhood (2551 San Pablo Ave Oakland, CA) , lacked fire extinguishers, smoke detectors in every apartment, along with a working sprinkler system just three days before a blaze erupted and killed three (four) residents. During an inspection on Friday, officials uncovered the multiple fire code violations, and ordered the owner of the Oakland building to immediately fix the fire alarm and sprinkler systems.
Oakland firefighters urged senior fire officials in January to consider immediately shutting down the West Oakland halfway house that burned Monday, killing four people, because of safety problems, newly released city emails show
The emails show that firefighters who responded to medical calls in January and February at the three-story building reported seeing dangerous conditions — trash, exposed electrical wires, a locked door to a fire escape — that posed a danger to “life safety.” They urged fire inspectors to shut down the building.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-firefighters-wanted-halfway-house-shut-11042357.php
Sabatini was a fire department arson investigator before she was brought over to the Fire Prevention Bureau starting Jan. 3 to help with inspections in the wake of the infamous Ghost Ship warehouse fire that killed 36 people.
She was part of a 2 1/2-month string of email communications about the San Pablo Avenue boarding house that began Jan. 8, after firefighters responded to a medical call at the building.
“I recommend that we consider shutting this building down immediately due to the danger to life safety,” wrote Capt. Richard Chew. But Sabatini overruled him and directed the property owner be given 30 days to fix the problems.
Sabatini said Tuesday that she later accompanied two fire inspectors into the building on Friday March 24. The inspection report from the visit detailed 11 deficiencies, which have been widely reported since the fire.
Sabatini said none of them were considered life-threatening. “I don’t want people to think we left a building that we thought was an imminent danger,” she said.
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/04/04/inspectors-requirement-might-have-led-to-fatal-oakland-fire/
