Fire officials asked city officials more than a year and a half ago to do something about the unsafe conditions at a Kalihi houselot where a makeshift structure collapsed Sunday.

“;This situation has been on our radar for a while,”; said Honolulu fire Chief Kenneth Silva, who visited the site yesterday.

      Daniel Cunningham raw interview

     

 

Raw interview footage with Daniel Cunningham, controversial landlord of a makeshift apartment house which collapsed.

 

[Watch]

 

 

 

 

Henry Eng, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting, said officials are preparing to condemn the property.

“;This will restrict access to the property and allow HPD to arrest any trespassers, including the owners. In addition, and although cleanup is generally a private matter, the city is meeting with its attorneys to evaluate what options are available to the city to ensure that the cleanup is done expeditiously to ensure public health and safety,”; Eng said.

The makeshift structure constructed of pipes, tarps and lumber - attached to a house at 1732 Gulick Ave. - collapsed about 7:30 p.m. Sunday during heavy rainfall. The home on the property, built in 1973, did not appear to be affected. Fifty-three people were reported to reside on the 6,000-square-foot property. City lawyers have sent letters to owners George Jenkins and Loida and Grace Santos declaring their intention to foreclose on the property at 1732 Gulick Ave.

The property owners could not be reached for comment. Daniel Cunningham, who managed the property, also could not be reached for comment.

Landlord Of Collapsed Building Fought City Inspectors

 

Daniel Cunningham, the controversial landlord of a collapsed make shift apartment house, said it was foolish to demand he take down the scaffold which collapsed Sunday night.

 

[ Watch ]

 

 

 

 

A notice of violation for the illegal dwelling was sent to property owners on March 12, 2005. After no action was taken to correct the violations, the city sent a notice on Oct. 19, 2006, levying fines. To date, the owners have accrued $53,000 in fines.

On March 2007, fire officials sent a letter to the Department of Planning and Permitting and the Department of Corporation Counsel. “;We were asking to expedite legal actions and to enforce the order because of unsafe conditions,”; said Capt. Terry Seelig, spokesman of the Honolulu Fire Department. Meanwhile, law enforcement and firefighters searched yesterday for a 42-year-old man who was reported to have lived in the illegal structure and hasn't been seen since it collapsed. There were conflicting reports, however, about when the man was last seen.

He is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, 200 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Authorities did not release his name.

More than a dozen firefighters and two dogs, one of them trained to locate cadavers, searched the rubble, but no one was found.