Run-down buildings

They exist in virtually every local town - buildings that have been left to deteriorate by owners who don't care or can't afford to maintain them.

Utilities get cut off, weathering occurs including holes in the roof, eventually windows get broken, and the structures quickly become not only eyesores but safety hazards.

The problems with such buildings are obvious: vermin infestation, fire dangers, they attract vagrants and drug users, they're eyesores, and they potentially reduce adjacent property values.

Here's another problem with such buildings:

In Waterbury, Conn., a raging fire erupted in a vacant structure. En route back to their station, the firefighters who battled the blaze noticed fleas all over them.

All were taken to a hospital but had to strip before entering so they didn't carry the fleas into the emergency room with them. At the hospital, they were scrubbed down before being released.

Four of the firefighters were bitten by the fleas so often they had to return to the hospital the following day to be tested for a number of flea-borne illnesses - including the bubonic plague.

The fire truck had to be taken out of service until it could be fumigated. The gear the firefighters were wearing at the time was bagged and was being washed in special high-heat machines to kill the remaining fleas.

How many other such vacant houses are infested with fleas? In such buildings, even though they shouldn't, children often enter them.

We admit we've never heard of this happening before. But such a problem seems logical.

And frankly, there are all types of hazards that confront not only firefighters who battle blazes at run-down buildings, but also people who merely live near the structures, as well as the officials who must enter them to investigate incidents inside them.

There's no easy answer for public officials in handling dilapidated structures. Most feel the public's tax dollars shouldn't be used for such demolition projects involving private properties. And many buildings become abandoned and dilapidated because owners can't afford their upkeep.

One potential solution is for municipalities to place liens on properties which are dilapidated and meet the criteria for condemnation, then execute the liens and offer them free to members the public. The liens would be for clean-up costs and back taxes if owed. If someone is interested in the property, there could be an agreement reached that the interested party will obtain ownership after having the property torn down and the site made safe.

The first priority would be given to the current owner.

Putting the property in the hands of the public keeps it on future tax rolls.

It's only a suggestion, because right now very little is getting accomplished in some communities.

With the continuing declining state of the economy, it seems that more and more deteriorating properties are going to surface.

They can't just be ignored. As evidenced in Waterbury, sometimes unanticipated negative consequences occur due to their dismal state.

By RON GOWER

rgower@tnonline.com