International Falls City Council is expected to discuss in committee Monday how to enforce sections of an ordinance that require inspections of rental units in the city.
Falls Fire Chief Jerry Jensen brought the issue to the council this week after a couple recent fires were caused by electrical issues.
The ordinance says that prior to issuance or renewal of any dwelling unit rental license, the units and structure within which they are located shall be inspected by the city and shall comply with the housing code, the city code and all other laws relating to rental units.
Jensen said city Attorney Steve Shermoen has advised that city ordinances be followed or taken off the books.
Just this week, the council began the process to add garbage removal on a weekly basis from the rental unit ordinance.
“Adding the garbage part of it was a good thing, but in the ordinance, section A through F — we’re not doing some of those things,” said Jensen. “And we can’t have an ordinance on the books and not do it. This needs to be addressed.”
Inspections, he said, would help owners of rental units address problems before they become a danger.
“Then I can sleep at night and not have to worry that there are people out there without smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, proper egress windows,” Jensen said.
Jensen said he knows that landlords fear being required to make expensive changes to their rental units as a result of the inspections. But he said “that’s not what we’re looking at.”
Jensen envisions inspecting rental units to check for working carbon monoxide and smoke alarms as well as other electrical issues.
Among those other issues are making sure rental units have ground fault interrupters which will cause a breaker to kick off in a bathroom should water and a gadget like a hair dryer or radio come into connection with water. “That’s been in the codes for quite a while,” he said.
In addition, he said inspections would provide contact lists for who is in charge of rental units in the city.
The committee, he said, would consider how to conduct inspections and who should do it. However, he said key to the inspections is getting software compatible with the city’s systems so it would not increase administration costs.
“It would make a big difference if I can get into the rental unit and do an inspection and warn people of the possibility of a fire,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jensen said everyone should be aware if their rental unit or home has old wiring.
“With the amount of electronics people now have we’re running into overloading of lines,” he said.
Overheating of wiring in a wall may not be noticed until after a full-blown fire breaks out, he said.
A recent fire in the city was caused by the integrity of the old wiring giving out.
Another was caused when the wiring of a kitchen range overloaded below the house. “Luckily, the mother and daughter were staying elsewhere, it was a smoldering fire below the house. If they were in the house, who knows if they would have woke up or not,” he said.
Inspections could check wiring, the number of outlets, the kind of breakers a structure is using.
“It might seem like a hassle for landlords, but it’s to everyone’s benefit to have the assurance that nobody will burn up in a fire. That should be all our goal — not to have fires,” he aid.
Key to keeping safe from fire is operating smoke alarms.
And, he noted, a recent state law requires rental units to have working carbon monoxide alarms.
“When an alarm goes off, you might not have even known you have a problem,” he said.
