Sixteen people, including multiple children, are displaced after fire officials said they discovered significant health and safety violations at an Effingham motel.The property, known as PK Motel, was taken over by the town of Effingham on July 22 due to unpaid taxes.Following an inspection from the fire department, officials said they found numerous safety violations during a site walk, including black mold, loose electrical wiring, and standing water that appeared to contain raw sewage. Effingham fire officials also said that the building lacked smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.”I felt the building was dangerous and it was posing an immediate life safety hazard and a health hazard to the occupants of the building,” said Effingham fire Chief JT Harmon.>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <> Subscribe to WMUR’s YouTube channel <<
Sixteen people, including multiple children, are displaced after fire officials said they discovered significant health and safety violations at an Effingham motel.
The property, known as PK Motel, was taken over by the town of Effingham on July 22 due to unpaid taxes.
Following an inspection from the fire department, officials said they found numerous safety violations during a site walk, including black mold, loose electrical wiring, and standing water that appeared to contain raw sewage.
Effingham fire officials also said that the building lacked smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
“I felt the building was dangerous and it was posing an immediate life safety hazard and a health hazard to the occupants of the building,” said Effingham fire Chief JT Harmon.
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Effingham fire said several people, including children, were inside the building during the site walk and inspection. All but one of the residents who were living there have been evicted. Most of the people inside had been living there for more than a year.
Officials said the Effingham Board of Selectmen is working with the town’s welfare office to provide emergency housing for those displaced.
“They all took care of each other. They were almost like a large family, and it’s incredible to see something like that,” Harmon said. “You know, a group of people that made the best of a very bad situation.”
Some locals who live and work nearby say the seizure of this property doesn’t come as a surprise to them.
“It’s a bad spot, a sore spot. I don’t think anybody wants to be associated with it,” said Donald Flanders Jr., a business owner who works down the road from the PK Motel. “I’m not surprised one bit.”
Tenants still have another few weeks to move out their belongings, and then the property will go up for auction in about three months. The town said in order for people to move back in, the building must be up to code.