Many of the concerns recently raised about Quality Inn included two deaths from gunfire in November and that month, but on Thursday, Rutland City Fire Department chief William Lovett said several safety concerns had not been adequately addressed.
Lovett was part of an isolated Thursday meeting attended by more than 40 people, where Rutland County officials from local government and business could share concerns with state officials about the residents of Quality and Holiday Inns.
Several attendees at the meeting said they sympathized with people staying in either of the two hotels because they became homeless during the pandemic, but said there were problems caused by people in the hotels, the mayors David Allaire described as “lawless”.
However, Lovett spoke of concerns from local emergency workers about conditions in the hotels.
Although Lovett didn’t set a timeframe, he said the department responded to 17 false positives and conducted 24 follow-up exams without seeing any permanent changes in the hotel to suspected fire code violations, which he described as “financially crushing this town.”
“The dangers facing our firefighters, police officers, building inspectors and health officials are unacceptable. In the past year, I’ve personally seen more drugs, drug paraphernalia, and criminal activity on these properties than since I first joined the department 40 years ago. It is really a dangerous situation, ”he said.
Lovett said over the decades he has studied fires in Manhattan, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Branson, Missouri.
“These communities have one thing in common: a large number of fire deaths caused by failure to have and enforce public security mandates. We don’t want the city of Rutland to be part of that group when deaths can be avoided so easily, ”he said.
At Quality Inn or its annex, firefighters have found multiple smoke or carbon monoxide alarms that weren’t plugged into an external power source, or batteries missing.
“Individuals cover these units to avoid being discovered behind closed doors,” Lovett said.
Lovett said the fire department responded to “numerous calls” to Quality.
“When our crews go inside, they are often faced with inmates who refuse to leave and are openly hostile to our efforts to protect them. They fear that we brought the police with us, as we often do for our own safety, to catch them selling drugs. Many fear that someone will enter their room and take their valuables with them when they are evacuated. That’s why these families stay in their room, ”he said.
Firefighters had to enter the electrical and maintenance room and found it filled with combustible material.
“We have to physically remove these obstacles in order to gain access to the fire control panels and the electrical circuit breakers. We never allow these conditions, and insist that all material be removed before we leave the building, only to find that the stuff will be back in the room when we return the next day, ”he said.
After describing several fatal fires blamed for clogged exit doors and the accumulation of flammable materials, Lovett said that “the same situations that existed in all of these locations existed every day at the Quality Inn.”
“We blocked fire doors with extension cords, dirt and carpets on the floors. It was found that the doors were jammed so badly that they could no longer fit into the frames. Some residents do this to give visitors or their customers free access to this building, ”he said.
In the halls of Quality, members of the fire department found discarded bicycles, propane bottles, and furniture that Lovett believed were placed so that “inmates can make room for their businesses.”
The exit lighting has been “severely compromised and destroyed to reduce visibility, making it harder to see what is going on in the halls,” Lovett said.
While Lovett said he had found staff and the hotel’s management was quick to respond when they were notified of the issues, they recurred within a few days.
Lovett said the electricity infrastructure was compromised because residents plugged in coffee makers and microwave ovens, devices that are not supposed to support the rooms’ electrical outlets. As a result, the electrical system is overloaded and can create a fire hazard.
Another issue that Lovett addressed is 17 fire alarms that the department only responded to so as not to find an emergency.
“It means that many people do not evacuate. They think it’s another false positive. It becomes the “boy the wolf cried” syndrome, “he said.
Lovett asked state officials “to resolve these issues before we appear on the National Fire Academy curriculum.”
patrick.mcardle
@ rutlandherald.com
