Mount Juliet Uncovers Fire Code Violations

Posted:

MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. - Mount Juliet inspectors said they have found more homes built without the proper firewalls.

A NewsChannel 5 investigation in July revealed problems in the Providence subdivision, one of Middle Tennessee's largest and fastest-growing developments.

City officials conducted their own investigation of fire code violations to determine how widespread the problem was.

Building inspectors have to inspect 400 homes again because of potential violations.

"I wasn't expecting it," said resident Christopher Smithing.

His home is one of the homes that will be inspected again.

Homes with a living area above the garage are suspect. The garage ceiling must have drywall at least 5/8 of an inch thick to give residents longer time to escape if a fire starts inside.

Inspection records show Smithing's house was built with 1/2 inch drywall - a fire code violation.

"Well, I think mistakes happen," he said. "And you know when you build houses as quickly as they build houses it's a matter of if you mark the wrong board the wrong size they come through and just put it up so."

"We really didn't know what to expect going into it," said Mount Juliet Public Works Director Marlin Keel. "We anticipated that most builders were in compliance. And we're finding that to be true."

Keel said the city has reinspected 196 homes.

Records showed 19 of the homes were not up to fire code. All of them were built with 1/2 inch thick drywall.

"We're continuing to work with builders to schedule times where we can get into houses," Keel said. "And we're putting the responsibility on the builder to make that appointment to get into the house."

Keel said it's the builder's responsibility to add a fire retardant to bring the affected homes up to code.

It is something Smithing expects to happen.

"I'm waiting for them to finish and they're going to come back and say they're going to take good care of me so. I have to believe that's going to happen," he said.

Keel said inspectors will continue reinspecting homes. He said inspectors should be able to look at every home by year's end.

City officials said Beezer Homes will add fire treatment to all of their homes in the Providence development. In all, the company will treat 94 homes regardless of whether they are up to code.