I am a tenant at 613 Franklin Street, 01702 Werds. July 12/2017 there was a huge Boom in our basement and huge flames coming from combustion chamber, which had blown off and the entire front had disintergrated, and black soot and smoke everywherw. I could see tell their was fire, from where wall had been, high possibility they are asbestos, and had been loose in home and now even more so since hole in wall had mostly diintegrated from explsion , (house built in 1969). I ran into den where fireolace was and pulled down blue foam mattress cover, that had been placed there by someone, proobably landlord, because there was no cap or cover on top of chimney, and flue was mmissing/rusted open, and stomped out fire on mattresses topper. There was one very old smoke detector, that I was told worked, but failed to sound when I pushed button and did not work even after I switched the batteries out, now smoke detector near downstairs bathroom no fire extinguisher, non working smoke detector had no CO detector and no CO detectors were found on first floor. Only one CO/Smoke detector found upstairs, none were present near bathrooms/bedrooms, the furnace/oil boiler had not been maintained or inspected, and I reported my concerns to landlords many times about the soot that would appear throughout the home, and the huge amounts of white yellow and green puffy corrosion on copper piping near boiler. I asked landlords if the boards walls in boiler room were plaster or asbestos, because they loooked like a type of asbestos, typically used in the 1960/1970s, and I had stated many concerns about the condition of the chimney, which I found out had no cap, no grate and the flue had been rusted open and or parts miising or eroded. I complained about how cold it was despite the heat being on 71 sometimes down there. The storm door hhad fallen off and as I attempted to try and screw part of it back in, the 6 other screws directly below it and abover it, from somebody else attempting to rescrew the door in, caught me in the hand, and a vein ruptured and I need to go to the emergency room. I have reported to landlord all toilets,2 sinks in bathrooms, leak and require buckets inder the pipes, there was no heat for 8 days from the moment we moved in. I asked landlord over and over to please get fixed, (we moved in on 10/29 and heat did not work until, 11/8/2017. I asked again if landlord was certain the boiler and chimney were inspected and or repaired this year and she swore and still swears that they were, but fails every time I ask her to show me documentation that they were she can't I was concerned about the soot thatwould develop as a thin layer on all floors, countertops and furniture. I am without hot water since 7/12/2017 and when I phoned landlord to tell her of explosion/fire she became so enraged and yelled at me and blamed me for it, and shouted " I am not a miracle worker, and every time your heat isn't working or you don't have water, I can have it fixed instantly. I was upset from having been in so much danger and that she could careless about our safety and now she was screaming at me. I made sure I documented, recorded and had proof that she could have had our heat turned on within 24 hours after we discovered we did not have any, but she told me it was us, not the heating system and to google how to program the heat panel. Finally on Thursday, November 4th they came over, unannounced and said they can't remember how to turn the heat on and that we wouldhave heat by Weds. the latest. They tried to ileaglly charge me for water without having a permit/application to do so on file and that their were too many leaks in this house to charge someone to pay for the leaks. I later found out that they had been charging tenants to pay water bill ileagally since 2005. I expressed concern for the wires that went through the door, to the boiler room and furnace, and have concerns about venting in the boiler room. Each time I would report a repair, ladlords would blame me for it, and they have never fixed maintained, had inspected, and or made sure the house was up to code. I ahve many more concerns and a move in checklist and what landlords have failed to do and obligated to disclose and know about. Landlord did npt disclose asbestos precesence, and when I asked they said no asbestos existed in home, which had been buillt in 1969, I would like to have the home thouroughly inspected as soon as possible to know what is wrong and what should have been done about loose plaster and when the chimney and boiler were last maintained and inspections, and have all concerns and codes/laws they violated. I still have grave concerns for safety.and exposed Thank You!
Wendy Springer
