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safety, fire caused by pizza restaurant ground floor of apts

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safety, fire caused by pizza restaurant ground floor of apts

Postby firelady » Sat Feb 03, 2007 8:32 pm

I am getting the runaround about the safety of our building after a fire. It started in the ? heater behind pizza oven or oven itself. We know alot of things that are fishy. He illegally turned the gas off in the building that day. We don't know if the oven had a fire suppression unit as it was ripped out by the FDNY. We just discovered that when the restaurant made a cafe edition they blocked the second floor access to the fire escape. How can this pass inspection? I dont trust anyone to tell me its OK. I am worried about the gas lines and how the fire spread up the ventilation system to the whole building. Should I call Con Edison? The buildings dept has not been helpful nor the DHP. Thanks for any help you can offer.
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Postby lofter1 » Mon Feb 05, 2007 4:52 pm

A couple of questions to clarify:

1) After the LL turned off the gas did he then turn it back on?

2) Do you have gas service now?

If you have gas service now and call Con Ed and describe the situation then Con Ed might come to the building and turn off the gas service / lock it out until such time that LL has a certified licensed plumber come in, check the lines and file a report with Con Ed.

This happened in our building last year; we were without service for ~ 1 week. It was a hassle but all tenants felt much more at ease afterwards, mainly because of worries caused by unauthorized gas service shut-off (done by a LL-hired contractor) which resulted in a strong smell of gas throughout the building after the LL had turned the gas back on without first notifying the Tenants (it was a Friday in the summer, many tenants were away and a number of old style stoves in the apartments -- non-self igniting -- were emitting gas).

At that time our first call went to the local fire house. FDNY came to the building and noticed the gas smell. FDNY contacted Con Ed, who came out and turned off & locked the main gas meter into the building. LL then hired a licensed plumber to do inspection of system (and a check inside all of the apartments), after which plumber filed report showing all was OK. Con Ed then allowed gas to be turned on once again.
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