Julia Rappaport
The Boston Globe
Special Coverage: The Financial Crisis and the Fire Service
Related Posts on The Kitchen Table: Food for Thought About the Economy
HUDSON, Mass. — Hudson officials are stepping up efforts to find and shut down illegal apartments following a Thanksgiving weekend fire that left 21 people homeless.
Building commissioner Jeffrey Wood said a tough economy, a need to reduce expenses by renters, and a desire to cut costs by landlords are contributing to an increase in illegal housing in Hudson.
“It is especially bad now with the economy the way it is,” he said. “I mean, people are having people move in with them and it’s really tough to police.”
Fire Chief John Blood agreed.
“We’re finding more and more dwellings, which I’m sure everyone else in Massachusetts is as well, being renovated without permits,” he said. “People need to live somewhere and this way rents are affordable, but landlords have to cut corners. It creates problems with code violations.”
The fire broke out during the afternoon of Nov. 28, in the second story of a seven-unit apartment building on Broad Street. The building, owned by Spencer Shearer of Wayland, has a permit for four units, Wood said. Officials have determined a malfunctioning toaster caused the fire.
Shearer could not be reached for comment.
After the blaze was out, Wood said, he and fire officials inspected the building and found several code violations, including faulty smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors without batteries.
In addition to the four units with permits, Wood said he discovered three without proper permits: two basement apartments, one of which was not rented, and a unit in the attic.
Worst of all, said Wood, was his discovery of the basement tenant still inside his apartment. The tenant, at home with his 2-year-old daughter when the fire broke out, slept through the commotion.
“That is just unacceptable,” said Wood. “We happened to stumble upon him after the fire was out. When you see a two-year-old child in a basement apartment, that to me just disregards human life.”
Although no one was injured in the fire, the 21 residents of the building are now without homes. The landlord is putting them up in local hotel rooms at his expense.
Wood said it is unclear when - and if - they will be allowed back in their apartments. First, he said, the landlord must bring the building up to code, which includes removing the illegally installed bathroom and kitchen from the attic apartment.
Wood said Shearer has been cited for alleged code violations and faces up to $600 in fines.
Wood said town officials must crack down on code violations. He is teaming up with Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Connor to create a plan, but said it may be difficult to enforce, since his department relies on calls from concerned neighbors to conduct inspections.
Wood said such a plan could include posting notices around town asking residents to call him with concerns, and returning to houses for inspection even when homeowners do not respond to initial requests to enter.
Illegal housing is already being addressed in Marlborough, where another Thanksgiving weekend fire left 13 people homeless. The fire broke out in the early evening Nov. 29 in a third-floor attic. The landlord had illegally converted the attic into an additional apartment, said Pam Wilderman, Marlborough code enforcement officer.
Wilderman arrived at the fire shortly after the firefighters. She said that her inspection found the third floor had no emergency exit and the windows were too small for a person to pass through. The smoke detectors were without batteries.
“It pretty much drove me over the edge,” Wilderman said. “The fact that the fire started around five o’clock is the only thing that saved these people’s lives.”
Officials have not yet determined a cause of the fire, Wilderman said, and no one was injured in the blaze.
Wilderman said the landlord has not been cited because she agreed to cooperate with authorities to correct violations.
Since taking office three years ago, Wilderman said, she has discovered and shut down nearly 60 illegal apartments. She said there is no way to know how many still exist, but with a city population of about 36,000, she estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people are living in illegally converted apartments.
“We do obviously have a problem,” she said. “I think we have a ways to go before we come out of this.”
Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company
All Rights Reserved