NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The New Rochelle Fire Department issued five Fire Safety Violation notices in March and five Appearance Tickets in April to the City School District of New Rochelle after multiple violations were found at the George M. Davis Jr. Elementary School.
The fire department conducted an inspection on March 6th.
Investigators found that fire doors were “chocked” open or inoperable on the Main Hall and Second Floor, there was gas fueled equipment stored in the building, rubbish piled up in the building, storage in equipment rooms – science and meeting room — and hallways cluttered with pails, tables, chairs, and desks.
The fire department issued Fire Safety Violation notices on the same day.
Investigators from the New Rochelle Fire Department returned on April 19th and found that the violations had not been sufficiently addressed. Five Court Appearance Tickets were issued based on the five Notices of Violation.
The New Rochelle Fire Department, like the New Rochelle Building Bureau, has no jurisdiction over public schools. As a result, the Court Appearance Tickets were rescinded. Fire Safety and Building Inspection are the purview of the New York State Department of Education Facilities.
At a meeting of the District-Wide Health Committee on April 26, Facilities Director Carl Thurnau disclosed to the committee for the first time that the fire safety violation notices had been issued without disclosing that the fire safety notice violations had been issued well before the previous committee meeting on March 29. No explanation was give as to why the committee was not information of the five fire safety violations at the time of the first inspection.
RELATED
Davis School Inspection Report
Davis School Fire Safety Violations
Davis School Court Appearance Tickets