Safety violations found at properties owned by deadly Westport fire landlord
By: Melissa Randall
@MRandallABC6
An anonymous letter sent from a former tenant prompted the inspection of 3 properties in Fall River. All of them are owned by the same landlord as the Westport home destroyed in a fire that claimed the life of 4-year-old Caleb Nardilillo.
“By all means when we get a letter like this we act on it right away,” said Joseph Biszko, Fall River’s building inspector.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Caleb’s mom, Melody, can’t help but wonder if electrical violations, documented by the Westport building department, in any way contributed.
“I was going to live in a hotel or a shelter if I had to… to get my kids out of that house,” she said in an interview 10 days after the December fire.
That home was owned by Donna Siliva. She is the same woman who rents out these three addresses on Plymouth Ave, Highland Ave, and Mott St. Inspections were done at those properties last week and the violations documented.
“On the first two, those were the most egregious because some of the smoke detectors weren’t working and I gave the owner until the end of the day to fix them,” said Biszko.
Silvia did take corrective steps, but there will be follow ups to make sure she remains in compliance. Biszko says working smoke alarms are critically important and any tenants who fear for their safety should do what the author of this letter did, and alert his office.
“That’s your first line of defense against a fire. You will die. You will die. So I don’t’ want that to happen to anyone in the city,” he said.
While city inspectors are holding her responsible for correcting the issues at the properties, two of them are in the process of foreclosure.
ABC6 News attempted to reach out to Siliva for her side of the story, but there was no answer when we went to her house.
© WLNE-TV 2015
