A June 15 letter from the state fire marshal’s office details 17 “major” fire code violations within Shelton High School.
The problems “substantially and adversely affect fire safety” at the school, according to the letter to the city from Terry A. Brouwer, a supervisor with the state’s fire marshal’s office.
The high school violations were revealed last month as part of a larger probe involving infighting and accusations within the Shelton Fire Marshal’s Office.
City leaders say the fire code violations are being addressed. The city’s Board of Aldermen last month approved the bonding of $62,000 that will be used to start to fix the violations. Click here for more info.
Fire code issues at Shelton High School have been an issue since December 2008, when a fire damaged the school while students were away on vacation.
Marshal v Marshal
According to Brouwer’s letter, the state fire marshal’s office is reviewing a complaint lodged with the state in January 2011 concerning “the actions of the City of Shelton Fire Marshal James Tortora.”
The complaint was made by Ben McGorty, a deputy fire marshal. Tortora is his boss.
In his complaint, McGorty makes a series of accusations against Tortora, including that Tortora creates a hostile work environment and never works the required hours.
McGorty refers to Tortora as a “perpetual liar and thief” — a reference to the allegation that he doesn’t work the required hours.
Tortora, in a response filed with the state fire marshal’s office last year, denies McGorty’s allegations.
Tortora also has a civil lawsuit pending against McGorty in Superior Court in Milford saying McGorty’s allegations are “false, scandalous, and outrageous” and unjustly harmed his reputation. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
Tortora’s lawyer, William Palmieri, said Monday that McGorty’s allegations “are being demonstrated to be categorically false and without any substantiation whatsoever.” The case is pending, with a pretrial conference scheduled for November.
Tortora also has a separate lawsuit pending against several other Shelton officials, claiming they engaged in a pattern to harass him and destroy his reputation. Click here for more information.
The Violations
As part of their review of McGorty’s sprawling complaint against Tortora, the state fire marshal’s office visited Shelton High School last year (click here and here for past stories) and discovered the Shelton High School violations.
McGorty had alleged that fire code problems persisted at the high school even after a 2009 state probe had apparently found no violation of state law there.
The June 15 letter contains a summary of the “major issues of non-compliance” found at the school.
Although the final inspection report and investigation are still not completed, the state fire marshal wanted to give Shelton “the earliest opportunity” to correct the problems, according to the letter from the state fire marshal’s office.
The fire marshal’s letter is below. Article continues after the document.
Among the violations alleged:
- Classrooms without windows that could be used as a means of escape during a fire
- “Penetrations and void spaces” in walls where fire and smoke could spread
- Several hallways that do not have exit signs
- Several exit stairways without emergency lighting
- A lack of safety provisions in several lab classrooms and storage rooms where flammable or combustible chemicals are kept
- Equipment serviced by extension cords, not permanent electrical wiring
Will This Ever End?
Chris Jones, a Shelton volunteer firefighter who has twice run unsuccessfully for mayor, said the violations at Shelton High School should have been handled years ago — especially given the fact there was a fire there in 2008.
In his failed bid to unseat Lauretti, Jones used a scathing WTNH news report on the fire code violations as campaign “information.” Click here to watch.
“It’s been three summers now that they’ve had the opportunity to correct these issues,” Jones said last week. “Right after the fire you had all the opportunities to make these corrections. They should have been done.”
“They’ve known about it,” Jones said. “They haven’t done anything.”
City Responds
Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti and Tortora said Friday that some of the issues cited in the letter sent last month have already been fixed.
For instance, the document lists several problems with doors rated for fire protection that Tortora said have since all been taken care of.
Lauretti said that issues like that “should get resolved over the summer months through the maintenance department of the school system.”
Overall the mayor said there were “no big surprises” in the letter, and that Tortora is working with state officials in getting “clarification and interpretation” on other problems cited.
Tortora said he’s working with state officials to address the issues “in the most economic and feasible and least disruptive way that still meets the code.”
He said the biggest issue that will need addressing — and the first one listed in the state’s summary — are classrooms that don’t have windows for escape in the event of an emergency.
The windowless classrooms were one of seven “design issues” cited in the summary.
The June 15 letter from the state fire marshal also hints as to the root cause of fire code violations at the high school — shoddy work during a 2006 renovation.
“Although our inspection did not address compliance with the design drawings or contract for the 2006 Addition/Renovation project undertaken at this facility, it should be noted that many of the issues appear to be a result of incomplete or deficient work performed during that project,” the letter states.
Those issues will take more time — and money — to fix.
A Fire Rehabilitation Building Committee made up of city and school officials has met twice in recent months to discuss the issues.
Click here to read the minutes of those meetings.
Lauretti said Friday that he anticipates another rehabilitation committee meeting soon to see where things stand.
“I want a progress report,” he said. “I want to keep the discussion alive.”
While the city’s Aldermen allocated $62,000 last month to address the fire code violation, that’s nowhere near the final amount needed to fix the problems.
Lauretti said he “wouldn’t even begin to try and figure” out how much the total figure could be.
In the meantime, the mayor said the city will be doing what it can while waiting for a final verdict from the state.
As for critics who think it’s taken too long?
The mayor said he stopped paying attention to them a long time ago.
State Fire Marshal Review Continues
Still unclear is when the state’s final report on the high school violation and the alleged turmoil within the Shelton Fire Marshal’s Office will come out.
Brouwer’s letter says it will be completed in the “near future.”
A state trooper who answered the phone at the state fire marshal’s office Thursday referred questions about the status of the investigation to state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance.
Vance said Thursday that the report is still being put together.
“Consider it to be under investigation,” he said, declining to comment further.
