OLDS — A fire that destroyed a house in Olds on Jan. 30 underlines a safety concern the town is working on: abandoned houses and other buildings.
Olds Fire Department Chief Justin Andrew told reporters that over the years, the town has managed to safely get rid of a few abandoned houses, but he knows of at least a couple that still remain to be dealt with.
Abandoned buildings are a safety risk, he said.
“There have been a few over the years that have been sitting vacant and they create problems for us in emergency services because they become hangout spots for people,” he said, adding they can be places that foster drug use or crime.
"Getting rid of those properties in an expeditious fashion, it certainly helps reduce that,” Andrew added.
One abandoned house that remains on Andrews’ radar is a home that burnt in a fire last October. He said it will be demolished as soon as ATCO disconnects the gas line.
"We’re not allowing those structures to stay standing for prolonged periods of time,” Andrew said.
"The town, through the Municipal Government Act (MGA), has the ability to (require) property owners to take care of those types of properties and either bring them up to standard so that they’re inhabitable or they have to be demolished.
“So anything that happens like that now with fire or vacant spots will be given the process.”
Andrew said that process may take time because property owners do have the opportunity to challenge an order, but in the end, “if a property owner won’t do it themselves, then we can enact that through the MGA to take the action.”
