Lillian Juarez
Over the past several weeks, more than 100 displaced residents of 1433 Columbia Rd have been picking up what remains of their belongings: children’s toys, mattresses, clothes and food.
A woman was seriously injured on Sep. 20 when her gas stove accidentally exploded, forcing the evacuation of the building. The explosion damaged multiple living units.
Many tenants have been staying at the Hotel Arboretum over the past month under a free city emergency shelter program.
However, the Wash has confirmed that after this week, the hotel vouchers are scheduled to end on Thursday, Oct. 17, and the residents must find somewhere else to live.
Tenants approached by The Wash were hesitant to offer comment about the housing issue, however, an Advisory Neighborhood Commission member working on it said they are “not doing well.”
The building, without repairs, is in no condition to safely house anyone, according to the Department of Buildings (DOB).
Through an ongoing investigation, The Wash uncovered 37 Notices of Infraction recently filed against the owners of the Columbia Rd building. The fines total $45,675 so far.
The post-explosion citations include failure to provide a rented dwelling unit with a device designed to provide security for the occupants and property within, failure to tightly secure the lock on entrance doors to dwelling units or sleeping units and/or failure to maintain locks and building poses imminent danger to building occupants or those in close proximity due to explosives, explosive fumes.
“Landlords must obey District law by providing properties that are safe, habitable, and livable. Our goal is to work with property owners so they fix violations. DOB is ready to issue the permits to the Landlord to do the necessary repairs and until that happens, the building unfortunately must stay closed,” the DC Department of Buildings wrote to The Wash in an emailed statement.
Based on public records and confirmed by DOB, a safety inspection of the facility was not documented in the five years before the accident.
Carlo Perri, ANC Commissioner for 1A03, told The Wash that the living conditions were “really terrible” before the explosion. Perri said he based that on a conversation with one of the tenants. He heard sinks were clogged, tenants needed to buy five-gallon buckets to shower and use their toilets and plumbing was leaking from upper floors to lower floors,
“The building managers never fixed it, despite formal complaints from residents,” he said. “… It’s possible that this person willfully neglected preparing this property. If that’s the case, then an investigation will reveal those battles and prosecute them.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 9, in an ANC meeting for Columbia Heights, the committee unanimously voted to allow an investigation into the living conditions before the Sep. 20 accident.
The resolution will call on the D.C. Attorney General, “to investigate and prosecute any negligent wrongdoing and enjoin lawful property owner(s) and their agents to remediate the physical disrepair of the property expediently and provide any gap assistance required to the displaced residents.”
Until building owners fix safety issues, it will remain uninhabitable.
The DC Department of General Services, working with Washington Gas, has conducted testing and found leaks in the gas lines throughout the building. Neither gas nor electricity will be restored to the building until gas lines are fixed. Repairing the gas falls under the property owner’s responsibility.
DOB said that, generally, a property owner will have 60 days from the date of receiving the Notice of Infraction. In this case, several of the infractions are labeled “life safety hazards” and require immediate abatement.
DOB informed The Wash that the owner(s) acknowledged receipt of the Correction Order and informally told DOB that there was a plan to return the property to habitability. DOB has yet to receive a plan.
Until the facility undergoes extensive repairs, and the city signs off on them, residents will not be allowed to return.
The Office of Tenant Advocate (OTA), the agency in charge of providing technical advice and other legal services to tenants regarding disputes with landlords, is supposed to be working to find the displaced tenants new places to live, but it has not specified what the relocation looks like. Perri said it has not been made clear to residents what will happen to their apartment as a result of them moving out; they have only been granted access to pick up their belongings.
According to records from the DOB, 1433 Columbia Rd has 30 inspection violations listed in 2018. These violations include failure to maintain all fire and smoke stop doors in operable condition, failure to install an approved carbon monoxide alarm in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms in dwelling units, failure to correct cracked or loose plaster, holes, decayed wood, water damage and defective surface conditions and failure to properly install and maintain plumbing fixture in working order. These are in addition to the dozens of safety violations handed out after the explosion.
The Wash requested comment and information from the building owners listed in the citations, Herminia and John Steininger, but has not received a reply.
The OTA, has not responded to requests for comment, and the Arboretum Hotel has declined to respond.
According to Noah Gray, the Chief Communications Officer for DC Fire, the explosion occurred when the occupant turned on the stove, which had a known gas leak. Gray also stated that their part of the investigation is completed.
According to the fire officials, a woman inside the apartment was transferred to the hospital in serious condition. Due to medical privacy, the department was not able to verify if that condition has changed.
Nicole Wiley
[…] aughts. He also named infestations as an issue, and said appliances were often old and broken. The Wash reported that some tenants had to use buckets to flush their toilets and […]