Inspectors find dozens of violations inside Pittsburgh-area apartment complex
LATROBE, Pa. (KDKA) -- Inspectors found dozens of city code and fire violations inside an apartment complex in Latrobe. Now those living inside are sharing their stories.
The city manager says in 40 years, he's never seen a building this bad and now he's holding the owners' feet to the fire to make changes and improvements for the health and safety of those living inside.
"There's roaches that crawl on you at night, crawl on your food, even get in the refrigerator," said tenant Vanessa Jordan.
"I have the pest control things in my walls, for the roaches to try and contain them as much as I can," said tenant Bobbi Brunot.
The building, located on Main Street has been there for decades.
"We were a little bit shocked," said Latrobe city manager Terry Carcella.
After receiving two complaints, the city manager, code enforcement, police and fire were called the building on Sept. 21 for an inspection, finding broken glass and windows, exposed wires, leaking pipes, bugs and multiple fire hazards, causing extreme concern for the safety and well-being of more than 40 people living inside.
"I've never seen a building this bad or this many violations and violations that could have been, should have been corrected immediately," Carcella said.
But residents inside say they've complained to the owner for years but little to no action has been taken.
"I had a window broke back in January. She still hasn't fixed it. The only thing she has up is a piece of plexiglass and some ceiling tiles that cover it and I've been freezing in the apartment," Jordan said.
The city says it's now working with the owner of the building to correct the violations and say they've already fixed the sprinkler system and installed working smoke detectors, but for those living inside, it's not enough.
"My health isn't the best and it's getting worse being here. I'm noticing more and more," Brunot said.
The city says there's a possibility the building could be condemned, while some tenants say they're already searching for a new place to call home.
"At this point, it's a very solid structure, it just needs these things corrected and fixed and then people can live there but I can't imagine wanting to live there unless those things are corrected if I was a resident," Carcella said.
Another inspection is scheduled for Nov. 2.
KDKA-TV reached out to the property owner and didn't hear back by airtime.
