Before 1 p.m. Friday, fire broke out at the 16 West St. apartment building owned by Carola Emerick of Florida. The fire was caused either by a candle or an electric alarm clock, he said, and the building had minor structural damage. Barnes said the building is owned by Irwin Gordon of Long Island. Due to the city's Code Enforcement Office to ensure that all rental units are equipped with working smoke detectors, loss of life was prevented. In fire safety measures, smoke detectors are the most important system a building can have, said Peter Friedman, Oneonta's code enforcement officer.
Landlords are responsible for providing smoke detectors that work.
However, in recent years, the Code Enforcement Office has taken apartment occupants to court for dismantling smoke detectors. Friedman said that heavy fines imposed by city Judge Walter L. Terry III have deterred renters from dismantling the detectors. Alderwoman Margery Merzig of the Second Ward agreed that Terry's fines have supported the city's aggressive enforcement of local and state codes on smoke detectors. You feel happy when the whole system works. Joe Dussich, a senior at the State University College at Oneonta, said that the fire displaced the nine students living in two apartments at 16-18 Myrtle Ave.