Evening star., 1940-04-15
Lax Inspection

A cOroner'S Jury and special
committee of inquiry appointed by
the District Commissioners have
agreed that the recent fatal fire at
the White Court Apartments was
due to faulty construction and lax
building inspection. The jury alb
solved those involved of criminal
negligence and the coroner an
nounced that the case is closed
But while the case may be closed
insofar as criminal action is con-
cerned, it is far from closed in the
minds of citizens shocked by the
amazing evidences of slipshop meth
ods and inefhciency in the city's in
spection system as revealed in testi-
mcny at the inquest. There surely
was inexplicable negligence-non-
criminal though it may have been
and it was not confined to a par
ticular phase of the inspection work
nor to a particular period. 1t be-
gan in 1925 when original plans for
converting a stable into an apart
ment house were passed on by the
building inspectors Office and it con-
tinued through the period OF con-
struction, after completion of the
job and, most serious of all, when
enlargement of the buildings CHM
ney was undertaken in 1887.
Both inquiries apparently left un-
answered the question as to why the
original remodeling plans were ap-
proved, after slight revision, over the
objection of an engineer in the build
ing inspectors office. Witnesses tes-
titled, moreover, that the construc-
ton did not follow the plans as
finally approved-yet two building
inspectors assigned to check on the
project did not discover the varia-
tions. Failure of the inspectors to
observe or report such building code
violations as the substitution of
wooden doors for metalclad ones,
use of inf1ammable partitions and
ceilings instead of fireproof or fire.
resistant materials and improper
construction of stair wells and cor
ridors remains unexplained, as one
of the inspectors designated to watch
the work is dead and the other, an
elderly man, has no recollection Of
the apartment Job whatever. Later
on, the building inspectors office
permitted reconstruction Of the
chimney on the basis of a rough
sketch drawn by someone in the
smoke inspectors Office, who may
have been thinking more of draft
and smoke than of fire hazards. At
any rate, the completed chimney was
inadequately lined with makeshift
tiles and a crack extended vertically
the full length of the brickwork. The
jury found that this defective CHM
ney was the direct cause OF the
fire. Even more astounding is the
fact that, through another admitted
breakdown in the inspection system,
this chimney patchwork was never
inspected by any one at any time.
1t may be argued that collapse
OF the inspection service at the White
Court Apartments isan isolated case.
The coroner's jury emphasized the
need for additional inspectors, and
undoubtedly the building inspectors
office Is understaffed-but the fact
remains that the inspection slipup
in the White Court instance was due
not to any lack of inspectors but,
in the words of the Commissioners
committee, to failure of the inspec-
tors to detect violations" That is a
grave charge, even though it has no
criminal implications. And If such
a failure could have occurred in one
case, it is not unreasonable to sus-
pect that it could have occurred in
others. The findings OF the two in
vestigating bodies lead to the in
escapable conclusion that what is
needed right now is an inspection OF
the Districts inspection department
with view to correcting its own
flaws. 1t would be tragic, indeed, If
more lives were to be sacrificed be-
fore Washington receives the type
OF building inspection to which a
large and growing city is entitled.