City inspectors have repeatedly cited the elevator in the Madisonville apartment building where a Cincinnati firefighter on Thursday fell to his death with violations — including during its most recent inspection, reports cincinnati.com (http://cin.ci/1I9sOdt)
The specifics of the violation from the November inspection aren’t entirely clear, and a big question remains after the city on Friday released several documents about the five-floor apartment building: What went wrong with the elevator door?
City officials say that’s part of an ongoing investigation into the death of veteran firefighter Daryl Gordon, who died from injuries sustained after he fell two floors in the elevator shaft of the building at 6020 Dahlgren Street. The investigation could take up to a year. There are three simultaneous investigations going on:
• What caused the fire.
• An internal review of how the fire was handled.
• A federal investigation by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
An elevator safety expert told The Enquirer on Thursday the door to the elevator should not have been open — or would have been extremely difficult to open — without the elevator car being on the fourth floor, where Gordon entered the elevator shaft. The elevator car was located on the second floor, and Gordon was found wedged between the elevator car and a wall, according to firefighters’ radio reports.
Residents of the building — part of the Kings Towers apartment complex — said the elevator was unreliable and many feared using it. The elevator was inspected and serviced in February and the building had passed recent safety inspections, according to officials for the building’s Boston-based owner, The Community Builders Inc.
City officials released the records at 2:17 p.m. Friday, including 10 reports on the building’s lone elevator, dating to November 2010. City elevator inspectors were not around to answer questions.
Seven of the elevator reports included violations, but none cited problems with the elevator’s doors. In the Nov. 25 inspection, the city inspector’s only comment was to “properly clean the pit area.” Violation reports in 2011 and 2012 each cited that the elevator needed to undergo an annual safety test.
