Article
Courtesy of WFTV.COM Channel 9 Posted
July 18, 2005
ORLANDO,
Fla. -- Channel 9 is asking hard questions about who inspected some Orlando
condominiums and if the companies were licensed to complete the fire inspection.
Monday
afternoon, the city gave Channel 9 a third name for the company that installed a
fire water main at The Grande Condominiums in downtown Orlando. That comes on
the heels of a Channel 9 inquiry into another company the city named on Friday.
The
company the city claims inspected underground fire lines at The Grande
Condominiums didn't want to talk to Channel 9. City officials claimed on Friday
that CDS Sitework and Trucking installed and inspected the underground fire
sprinkler feed to hundreds of units at The Grande. Channel 9 found out that CDS
is not licensed to do fire inspection work.
Attorney
Carol Swanson is suing the city on behalf of a terminated fire inspector who
claims she blew the whistle on allegedly bogus inspection records.
"People
signed off on the fire inspections who had nothing to do with the city, they had
no authority under the city to do fire inspections," Swanson explained.
Monday,
after Channel 9 confronted CDS, the city came up with a third company, Wayne
Automatic Fire Sprinklers, and new documents. The city said it proves, once and
for all, that the complex passed inspections.
But
Channel 9 called the third company and they said they only installed and tested
a 30-foot connection to the aboveground fire sprinklers. So the question
remains, who, if anyone, did inspect the underground lines?
Meanwhile,
condo owners are caught in the middle. Several realtors said the $200,000-plus
condos could take a hit in the market place if the city can't prove the entire
fire suppression system was properly tested.
The
revelation may also lead to insurance problems for condo owners, if and when
their insurers find out that the sprinkler mains may be compromised.
The
city maintains that the work was done properly and inspected, and that nothing
is more important than public safety. The city insists that CDS did not need a
fire license to do the work in question. The Fire Marshal's Office has re-opened
an investigation into this project.
More Forged Documents Found For
Orlando Condo
City Can't Show Proof Of
Orlando
Condo Inspection
Former Inspector Says Downtown
Condo Could Be Firetrap
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