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Fire In Abandoned Building In St. Martin’s
posted (June 7, 2017)

If you watch the news regularly, then you already know all about Councilor Willoughby and his team’s Derelict Building Demolition initiative. Well last night’s fire in the St. Martin’s area is a good example why it needs to be implemented. An abandoned building caught, or was set on fire at the corner of Poinsettia and Jasmine streets. Residents say the building has been an annoyance for over decades. Here is what one of those wary residents and what the police had to say.

Wayne Cadle - Area Resident
“They usually come and throw all kind of thing in this building, dead dog, dead *explicit*, people come smoke weed, they do a lot of things in this building. This building is here, this building is neglected, this building needs to be taken down, this building - we don’t know who own this building here.â€￾

Jules Vasquez
“And so it’s a menace in your community?â€￾

Wayne Cadle
“Yes because they people they pass here, the people skin up their face, they eat their food, they dash their food on the street because they the smell stinking thing.â€￾

Jules Vasquez
“They had a fire here last night too?â€￾

Wayne Cadle
“Fire always here because people don’t care, children pass through all kind of thing, light up thing and not only that, people go smoke up cocaine all kind of thing in there.â€￾

Jules Vasquez
“So what would you like them to do with this?â€￾

Wayne Cadle
“I would like them to take it down because it’s been in the community too long.â€￾

Jules Vasquez
“How long has it been a hazard here?â€￾

Wayne Cadle
“This is here for like about 20 years.â€￾

ACP Chester Williams - OC, Eastern South Division
“Well anywhere where there is fire, it is a hazard especially when it is within congested communities because then the fire can spread easily to another building and then from one house fire can turn out to multiple house fires. So yes it is a hazard and from a police standpoint there is very little that we can do but I know for a fact that the fire department has been very active in terms of warning people about things they can do and what not to do, to prevent fires in their homes so we hope that people that heed to those warning by the fire department and most importantly they must discourage children from playing with flammable liquids and matches and so forth because those are things that normally start the fire.

So as you heard, the residents want that building taken down. It has not been confirmed what started the fire but it is believed it was all  refuse inside that fueled it.

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