James Street fire caused by cooking appliance; building owner leaves trail of violations in MA
Story Created:
Sep 24, 2009 at 9:25 AM EST
Story Updated:
Sep 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM EST
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - The owner of the Utica building that burned, killing four people over the weekend, has apparently has left a trail of run-down buildings, codes violations and unpaid fines in another state.
The Daily Item newspaper of Lynn, Massachusetts, reports that the city of Lynn is still trying to collect $8000 in unpaid fines for codes violations from Timothy Klotz.
They say violations in 2007 included Klotz's failure to correct a blocked doorway in a building's rear hallway, and failure to repair broken smoke detectors.
Klotz owns 102 James Street in Utica. Four people died in a fire in the multi-unit building over the weekend. Utica city and fire officials say Klotz failed to register with the city's inspection program, and that as a result, fire and codes officials hadn't inspected the structure.
Klotz is due in Utica City Court Monday to answer charges he failed to register seven other buildings for inspection.
Utica's Chief Fire Marshal Raymond Beck said the deadly fire on James Street that burned for more than 13 hours was accidental and caused by a cooking appliance.
Beck said an investigation revealed the fire started in the kitchen of the first floor rear apartment. The fire spread up to the second floor through "plumbing chases" as well as the the exterior of the building. It then burned through the third floor and through the entire roof.
It was finally brought under control around 2:28 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Also of interest to local officials is the fact that Klotz has sold several Utica properties to a man in Massachusetts, Michael Cipriano. Of particular interest: why Klotz would sell two buildings he purchased for more than $600,000, 215 and 401 Rutger Street, for just $1.
There are several, less valuable buildings in Utica which city records show Klotz sold to Cipriano. Among them, 815-817 McVean Street.
When we asked "Robert," a tenant of the building, the name of his landlord, he replied, "Tim Klotz." Robert said he'd never heard of Cipriano.
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