It was nearly four months ago that a house turned apartment building at 515 W. Third Ave. was destroyed in a fire, but on Tuesday a pile of charred, twisted debris still sat on the property.
The house, a three-story structure converted into apartments, was burned in a Sept. 4 fire that caused the death of an 18-year-old Mitchell Technical Institute student. The cause of the fire was found to be accidental and later determined to be a heat source, possibly a candle or a cigarette, close to the ground in the northeast corner of the structure.
The demolition of the house was delayed, at first, because the family of the student who died in the fire asked to have it put on hold to preserve evidence. Demolition started in late November -- nearly three months after the fire -- and has not yet been totally completed.
The lack of progress being made to remove debris and clean up the property is frustrating for neighbors.
Pat Cassutt lives at 508 W. Third Ave., right across the street from the property in question. Cassutt is unhappy the property has not been cleaned up, given the amount of time that has passed since the fire.
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"It's taking too long," she said. "Way too long."
The appearance of the property only got worse once the house was demolished, Cassutt said.
"It makes the neighborhood look trashy," she said.
Cassutt also blamed the condition of the property for attracting rodents to the neighborhood. She said after 20 years of living in her home, she saw mice inside for the first time this fall. Cindy Kiner, who lives at 519 W. Third Ave., next to the property, repeated the rodent concern and called the property an "eyesore."
"A young man died there," she said. "It just needs to be cleaned up."
Multiple calls made on Monday and Tuesday to the owner of the property, Boyd Reimnitz, were not returned.
Wade London, the city's code enforcement officer, told The Daily Republic on Monday that the city is monitoring the situation but has not set a deadline for when the cleanup needs to be finished.
The cleanup process has been delayed by weather and mechanical problems with equipment on the part of the person hired by the property owner to clear the site, London said. It is entirely the responsibility of the property owner to remove the debris from the site and the only way the city involved is the issuing of a demolition permit, which stay valid for six months, London said.
