The aftermath of the Cabin Lake Apartments fire has former tenants facing an uncertain future. What is equally uncertain is how the apartment building was in operation while not meeting the city's building codes. According to Danville building officials, the city is required to inspect new buildings only during construction.
Construction includes major repairs or renovations that require a building permit.
Tenants at Cabin Lake complained after the Thanksgiving Day fire about a variety of conditions at the complex, including broken smoke detectors and poorly-ventilated chimneys. But the city has no record of any official complaints being filed. Charles Norton, the city's inspections division director, pointed to holes in the apartment's fire walls that accelerated the blaze instead of containing it. City building codes prohibited such holes in 1978 when the building was constructed. City officials are in the process of finding those answers this week, but so far, progress has been slow because the lack of information available.