October 30, 2015 –The owner of the former Eaton’s building on Park Avenue was found guilty in Provincial Court Wednesday on three charges for failing to comply with an Inspection Order written by Thunder Bay Fire Rescue.  In addition, the owner was found guilty on 5 additional fire code violations.  These resulted in fines totaling $25,000 plus court costs.

The charges relate to a complaint of fire code violations made prior to a 2014 Halloween fundraising event held annually in the basement of this building.  A follow up inspection in November 2014 identified more than 50 fire code violations; while the owner has made some progress some of the violations remain outstanding.

Thunder Bay Fire Rescue continues to monitor the property and is working with the building owner to bring the building into fire code compliance and ensure it is safe to occupy. Further orders or other enforcement activities may be required to make the building safe for the occupants and the public.

“Failing to comply with an inspection order can result in a fine of up to $20,000 for every day you are not compliant” said Fire Chief John Hay.  “Had a member of the public or a fire fighter been injured or killed in this property as a result of these violations that were not addressed as ordered we would have been seeking fines closer to the maximum allowed.  In this case that would have been in the millions of dollars.” 


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Contact:       John Hay, Fire Chief – Thunder Bay Fire Rescue, 625-2101, cell 628-4774 or jhay@thunderbay.ca