ROMAN GOKHMAN
Contra Costa Times

PITTSBURG - When a vacant house on East 12th street went up in flames March 14, neighbor Cecilia Solis was upset for two reasons.

First, she had rented the single-story, 1930s-era home for six years before it was foreclosed. But most important, her new home was just a few feet away.

"It scared us because the houses are so close together and the fire could spread," she said.

Contra Costa Fire District investigators said the fire in the 400 block of East 12th was started by homeless squatters -- one of at least 13 such blazes in abandoned buildings that it has battled in the past four months.

Officials say the problem has grown worse because of the large number of vacant homes stemming from the foreclosure crisis, combined with cold winter weather.

While the fire district does not keep statistics on these types of incidents, Fire Marshal Lewis Broschard said there were more this winter than in winters past.

"Because of the weather, there are more people going inside these buildings to seek shelter," he said. "Because there is no power or utilities, the people find whatever they can to burn to keep warm, or use candles for light."

While none of the fires has resulted in injuries, they present unnecessary risk to firefighters, he said. They also create additional blight in communities.

No area has been spared. Since October, buildings in east, central and west Contra Costa have been damaged or destroyed.

Beginning in October, transients started at least two fires in the vacant Mazzei Pontiac Cadillac Buick car dealership on Century Boulevard in Pittsburg, according to the fire district. A sprinkler system controlled the first. The next one caused some damage.

In December, a fire believed to have been started by squatters destroyed a long-vacant and unused restaurant building at Shadelands Drive and Oak Grove Road in Walnut Creek. In January, transients apparently started a warming fire inside a Martinez house at 2:30 a.m. that quickly spread.

The 12th Street fire in Pittsburg tied up firefighters in the area for nearly two hours while they brought it under control. Solis said she got a look inside the house afterward.

"There were feces over all over the bathroom walls," she said. "People have torn things out. The furnace is gone. The cabinets are gone. It used to be a beautiful home."

The most recent suspicious fire heavily damaged a boarded-up house near Balfour Road and Hudson Drive in Brentwood on March 20. While the cause has not been determined, transients likely started it because the home was supposed to be vacant.

Containing such fires before they cause major damage is difficult because they are not reported until the fire is significant enough to be seen from outside. The Brentwood house was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, Broschard said.

Broschard said fires in abandoned buildings carry more risks because the buildings often have already been targeted by copper thieves who destroy walls and ceilings and leave exposed dangers that fuel fires. With walls removed, flames are more likely to spread and move through a building faster than normal.

"If we're out fighting these sorts of fires that are completely preventable, it ties up resources that would otherwise be available to respond to medical emergencies or fires within that community," Broschard said.

Broschard said owners of vacant properties, usually banks, have a responsibility and are required by the county's fire code to keep their buildings secured and unoccupied by trespassers.

They should first be locked. If that does not deter transients, all first-floor doorways and windows must be boarded up. If squatters still find a way in, a fence must be placed around the building, he said.

Owners are expected to make frequent visits to the property to determine whether there is a problem.

Even if the building is vacant, the owners are required to keep a building's sprinkler system, if it has one, turned on.

"That building (on Shadelands Drive) had a sprinkler system in it, but it was turned off," Broschard said. "Had it been in operation, the building would still be standing."

Vacant buildings have caused major headaches in Richmond, where code enforcement officials have struggled to get property owners -- usually banks -- to secure the properties. Transients have started five fires since November, Richmond fire Chief Michael Banks said.

"The banks are not maintaining these properties," said Tom Higares, code enforcement manager for the Richmond Police Department. "They are making the municipalities' code enforcement (departments) the property managers."

Many cities have ordinances dealing with vacant buildings, some more strict than others.

In Concord, property owners are required to keep their buildings from becoming a blight. If they need to be boarded, the city prefers that it be done from the inside rather than the outside to help the building sell faster, said Vance Phillips, the city's chief building official.

A Richmond ordinance requires owners to secure foreclosed properties within 30 days and obtain a compliance certificate. After 30 days, there is a hearing, and banks often do not send a representative.

From that point, the city charges the owner $1,000 per day, up to $30,000, to comply. If the banks don't pay up, the city puts a lien on the property.

To prevent or slow the number of fires at vacant buildings, the Contra Costa Fire District has applied for a federal government code enforcement grant that would allow a fire investigator to inspect vacant buildings as part of an arson-prevention program. Otherwise, Broschard said, property owners need to do their part to help.

"We have limited resources," he said.

Copyright 2011 San Jose Mercury News
All Rights Reserved
March 27, 2011