600 El Paso Buildings Face Inspection After Blaze

The El Paso Fire Department will start to inspect 600 Downtown buildings next week in an effort to prevent another major fire like the one that destroyed the 130-year-old First National Bank building at 100 E. San Antonio.

On April 19, 143 firefighters for hours fought the blaze that consumed the three-story landmark building owned by River Oaks Properties.

The cause of the fire has not been released by authorities as an investigation continues, fire officials said.

Starting on Monday, a six- person team from the Fire Department will be looking at buildings north of Paisano Drive, south of Wyoming Avenue, west of Octavia Street and east of the Union Plaza District.

Fire inspectors will look for unsafe conditions that could represent a "threat to human life, safety or health."

If hazardous conditions are found, fire inspectors will work with property owners to fix the problem. Corrective actions may include evacuating the property.

It is believed that many Downtown buildings are being used for storage and are exceeding their maximum capacity, which represents a fire risk, said Fire Chief Otto Drozd.

"Part of Downtown right now is a huge storage warehouse district," he said.

One of the problems is that many of the buildings were not intended for storage. The basements were built with only one way in and out, Drozd said.

The fire chief said inspections will be based on the existing fire code, which does not require property owners to provide fire

officials a certificate of occupancy.

This is a big problem, Drozd said. For example, there are bank buildings used as a mercantile stores.

Drozd requested City Council improve the fire code by requiring property owners to have a current certificate of occupancy.

This change alone can mitigate 90 percent of the fire hazards in Downtown, Drozd said.

Other fire code enhancements could be to require building owners to have an annual operational permit for combustible storage and to limit combustible storage in basements and unprotected buildings, he said.

On Tuesday, council approved having city staff review the proposed changes to the fire code and revise the vacant building ordinance.

Deputy Building official Bill Stern presented to City Council a series of recommendations to change the building ordinance.

They would:

-- Define a building as vacant if it has been unoccupied for a continuous period of one year.

-- Define "occupancy" only if 60 percent of the building is in use.

-- Require all large vacant buildings to have a sprinkler system.

-- And have business owners purchase liability insurance.

Under the current code, a building is defined as occupied if 40 percent of the property is in use and it does not require business owners of large vacant buildings to have a sprinkler system.

Council directed city staff to share the proposed changes with the community, especially with Downtown building and business owners.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service