Posted by jennifer on January 02, 1999 at 16:56:50:
Last week, we had a fire in our building in the middle of the night.
The location of the fire was in between the 2nd and 3rd floors. I am on
the 4th floor directly above the units which were damaged. The cause of
the fire was found to be damaged electrical wiring in the 2nd floor ceiling.
Both units are now completely uninhabitable and the landlord began making
repairs immediately--reinstalled door locks, replacing windows, etc. My
apartment, being directly above the fire, sustained smoke damage but was
otherwise unharmed by the fire itself. My questions are:
since the fire was found to be caused by faulty wiring, will an inspection of
the rest of the building automatically follow by the Electrical Control Bureau
or will I have to request one?
do I have a case for witholding any rent on the basis that there was a fire?
that the apartment still smells awful? that there is broken glass and debris from
the damaged apartments in the hallways and dust/ash in the air in the common
areas? I understand that a certain amount of debris and dust can be expected,
given the current situation, but is there an amount of time after the fire which
would be deemed "too long" for the remaining tenants to have to put up with the
situation? I am asthmatic.
Also, the firemen, in an effort to release the smoke from my apartment damaged one window
screen and two blinds. An inspector came by shortly after to take note of
what the firemen damaged and then left. He did not give me a copy of his report
or any other information. Is the landlord required to replace these items? Should
I buy them myself (since he has a lot of other work on the fire-damaged floors
to contend with at the moment) and give him the bill? Thank you for any
informed advice you can provide.
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