Editorial: Get tougher on codes

Thursday, March 18, 2004 | 8:58 a.m.

A 12-year-old girl died early last Thursday when fire destroyed the trailer where she was sleeping. The trailer had been wedged into the back yard of a home on East Ogden Avenue, near Fremont and Bruce streets. The absentee owner of the property had been ordered twice by the city of Las Vegas to quit using the trailer as living space. Nevertheless, at the time of the fire, the trailer was being lived in by the girl, her mother and her mother's boyfriend. The girl was alone in the trailer when fire broke out at about 3:20 a.m.

In January 2003, city code inspectors responded to complaints from neighbors about the property being used as a scrap yard. Inspectors acted on that complaint but, following their policy, did not check their past records, which would have shown the presence of a trailer in the back and the order not to use it as a home. Neighbors say the trailer was being occupied at that time and that inspectors should have taken action on that issue as well. Citing lack of staff, Neighborhood Response Manager David Semenza said inspectors "don't look back at all the previous complaints when we have a complaint on an address." This should change. Every time inspectors investigate troublesome properties, there should be full checks on the past complaints as well as the current ones.

The city also should draft a new policy for dealing with absentee owners who ignore property codes. The city's nuisance ordinance allows "abatement without notice," but it's rarely used. Yet as this tragedy shows, there isn't always time to wait for owners, absentee or otherwise, to some day, some year, get around to making their properties safe. The city should learn from this girl's tragic death and make changes in the way it enforces its codes.