PORTLAND, Maine — The city of Portland on Friday released a history of complaints filed against 20-24 Noyes St. stretching back more than 11 years, including two this year by neighbors who said the building was falling into disrepair and becoming cluttered with trash and debris.
The city has been under media pressure to release inspection and complaint history for the building since a fire there last Saturday claimed the lives of six people, making it Maine’s deadliest blaze in four decades.
Portland Fire Chief Jerome LaMoria told reporters early in the week that the city’s file on the building had been turned over to state and federal investigators, and was therefore not available as a public record to be reviewed by the media.
On Friday afternoon, the city announced that the state fire marshal’s office authorized the report’s release, a move that came in tandem with a pledge by city officials to give their staffing levels and inspections processes a thorough review.
Friday’s document showed that since Aug. 28, 2003, neighbors had lodged 16 complaints about the property. Most of those were about the unsightly and potentially unsafe buildup of what at least one complainant called “trash and combustibles” at the two-unit structure.
In 2012, the city fielded a complaint that property owner Gregory Nisbet had illegally added a third-floor unit to what was zoned to be a two-dwelling structure, and an inspector followed up to confirm that a third unit had been added.
While most of the complaints issued against the building over the years were resolved with a clean-up of the trash in question, at least three of the last four complaints — including two lodged this year — led to investigations and confirmed code violations.
Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, told the New York Times two of the fire victims were found on second floor of the structure and three were found on the third floor.
A sixth victim, 29-year-old Rockland man Steven Summers, leapt from the upper floors of the 94-year-old building to escape. He was hospitalized with severe burns but succumbed to his injuries three days later.
Other victims of the fire were identified as tenants David Bragdon Jr., 27, Ashley Thomas, 29, and Nicole Finlay, 26, as well as visitors to the building Christopher Conlee, 25, of Portland and Maelisha Jackson, 23, of Topsham.
The building had been the site of a Halloween party the night before the Saturday morning blaze, which was reported just after 7 a.m. Seven people who were at the house at the time escaped.
Nisbet has not spoken publicly since the day of the fire, when he told the Portland Press Herald he was “devastated” by the tragedy and “working closely with fire and police to aid in the investigation.”
On Friday, Portland Mayor Michael Brennan warned people in the community not to vilify anyone for what happened.
“This is a very emotional and raw time for everyone in Portland, and it’s important to note that no one should be placing blame,” said Brennan in a statement. “When something like this happens, everyone — including landlords, tenants and the city — should use this incident to educate themselves about best practices and learn from it as we move forward.”
A 2013 consultant’s review of the Portland Fire Department suggested it have 10 full-time inspectors to keep up with regular fire code inspections for buildings across the city. On Friday, a release by the city acknowledged that Portland’s Inspections Division has “a team of three inspectors that handle land use, building, plumbing and electrical inspections and one inspector that handles citizen complaints.”
The division conducted more than 850 inspections over the past year in response to complaints, but the 2013 department review by the Maryland-based Public Safety Solutions Inc. noted that nearly 4,900 businesses and apartment buildings in the city should be inspected annually.
“The city is announcing today that it will be establishing a task force to review fire and code inspections policies to enhance recently completed reports that were focused primarily on staffing levels,” read Friday’s release by the city, in part. “The task force will include representatives from fire, police, inspections, social services, corporation counsel, a local landlord association as well as technical assistance from other cities that have been through similar events.”
The city also set up contact lines — at 482-LIFE and life@portlandmaine.gov — to field public comments and questions about fire safety in the city.
“I’d like to thank the city’s dedicated first responders who worked tirelessly over the weekend, and work to protect us each and every day,” said Brennan. “I’d also like to once again express my condolences to the family and friends of the six victims as they continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones. Our hearts go out to them during this terribly difficult time.”
Since the fire, a number of fundraisers and events were scheduled to aid the survivors of the incident and the families of the victims. Two online fundraising pages have been launched, one by a neighbor and another by one of the victims’ business associates, which by Friday had raised a combined $12,295.
Stand-up comedian Juston McKinney announced he would donate the proceeds from two Portland performances Friday night to fire victims and their families, and a vigil will be held in their remembrance in Longfellow Park at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
