Apartment complexes cited for fire, safety violations

From Staff Reports

   Elizabethton city officials have cited three apartment buildings in the 400 block of West G Street for a number of fire code and safety violations.
   Fire Marshal Barry Carrier has sent a letter to the manager of the apartments, which are owned by the Nettie Lee Nave Marital Trust, informing her of the deficiencies.
   The apartments named in the letter are the Shenandoah, 431 West G St.; Gainesboro, 429 West G St.; and Lynnox, 427 West G St.
   Among the items to be addressed is providing two separate exits for each living unit, installing fire alarms and providing an automatic sprinkler system for living units serviced by fuel-fired heaters.
   The inspection was conducted under the guidelines of the adopted code of the city by the 1997 Standard Fire Prevention Code and the National Fire Protection Association's 1994 Life Safety Code.
   Apartment buildings over three stories high or with 11 living units are required to have fire alarm systems, according to the Life Safety Code.
   At Thursday night's city council meeting, City Manager Charles Stahl told council members he understood a sale of West G Street properties was in the works.
   "There is a meeting (Friday) with the fire marshal, so we feel that progress is being made there," said Stahl.