PORTLAND, Maine — The city of Portland has notified embattled landlord Gregory Nisbet that his 186-192 Dartmouth St. property has been found with numerous building, safety and fire code violations.
Nisbet faces three wrongful death lawsuits in connection with a Nov. 1 fire at another of his buildings, at 20-24 Noyes St. That blaze claimed the lives of six people, making it the deadliest fire in Maine in four decades.
Portland Fire Chief Jerome LaMoria announced this week that while fire investigators determined the Noyes Street fire was accidental, caused by improperly discarded cigarettes, the loss of life was exacerbated by the lack of working smoke detectors and blocked exits.
The month after the Noyes Street tragedy, tenants of Nisbet’s Dartmouth Street property called for a city inspection, telling reporters their building also was left in an unsafe condition.
On Thursday, the city of Portland sent a certified letter notifying Nisbet of the results of a Tuesday inspection of the Dartmouth Street property.
According to the letter, the following fire safety code violations were discovered at 186-192 Dartmouth St.:
— The primary escape route is exposed to an unprotected vertical opening.
— All vertical openings have smoke- and fire-resisting capabilities of less than half an hour.
— There is no fire alarm system.
— Sleeping rooms and living areas lack a secondary means of escape.
— And doors are locked against egress when the building is occupied.
The letter also notified Nisbet there is rubbish and debris accumulated in the building, a rear egress is blocked and a second-floor smoke detector is missing, all violations of the city building code.
Attorney John Veilleux, representing Nisbet, told Portland television station WGME, CBS 13, last month that tenants were to blame for many of the problems at the Dartmouth Street property.
Nisbet reached an agreement earlier this month with the tenants at 188 Dartmouth St., under which they will move out by Feb. 15. According to Thursday’s letter from the city, Nisbet must correct the violations by Feb. 2, when the city will re-inspect the property at a cost of $150 to the landlord.
