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The boiler repairs started in May and were a long drawn out process. There were no parts available, change of schedule, etc. It ended just short of a law suit but the system was up and running before the end of September. At the same time as the boiler repairs, the roof of the 18th floor was being fixed. The roof was never installed properly so there were numerous leaks all the time. The roofers liked watching the girls sunbathing naked on the 17th floor roof below, but none of them would take their clothes off and join in. That year we cut ventilation holes for the dryers in the laundry room. These machines were another constant source of aggravation and break down. I was amazed at the amount of trouble these vent holes caused with city by-laws. Lint collectors were required and they demanded constant cleaning. Who was going to clean them? They were a fire hazard if not managed properly. The tenants got into a hole in the wall program inside the building. They cut a hole through an Ashram room into the lounge creating the studio and engineering room for Rochdale TV. Radio Rochdale had already tried to make a pirate go of it and been shut down. Radio Rochdale did not broadcast more than a couple of blocks late at night. But it was discovered within days and the Feds stepped in with the CRTC. Now we were going to put up a TV station. Yahoo!! We were already a target but that did not suppress the fearless broadcasters. The CRTC took all the critical equipment this time. Because of all the police raids and the internal vandalism I kept a supply of replacement glass for every window in the building. Fire door glass was a regular target of drunks and temper tantrums. Room slider windows were another. These sliders were dangerous they were too large. Several people fell out of them but they were never changed. One of these deaths ended in an inquiry. There was an egress situation that required correction. General access to the roof top of an apartment building was denied by the City of Toronto but was demanded by the Province of Ontario. Rochdale was the example of roof access problems. If the city inspected we were required to lock the roof hatch closed and if the province inspected, the hatch was to be unlocked. It depended on which inspector came by. The Fire Marshall demanded it be open incase of a fire and people could be rescued from the roof. The city inspector went along with the city police and considered the roof a point for suicides and demanded it be kept locked. As far as I was concerned they were both right. So, I took the locks off and put bricks on the hatch to add extra weight to frustrate would be jumpers. I was the only Head of Maintenance that had to go in front of a grand inquiry concerning a fall resulting in death. At this inquiry I was quizzed about conflicting Federal, Provincial and City of Toronto Codes; Section 9 building by-laws. I had no clue as to what they were talking about. All I knew was they were barking up the wrong tree. They were trying to establish a path to the roof via the stairwell escape hatch. The Federal and Provincial by-laws said the hatch had to be open for emergency escape to the roof. The City of Toronto by-laws said the hatch had to be locked and not easily accessible. To comply with both rules, we put bricks on the hatch so it was not easily accessible. Yet it was openable according to provincial and federal laws. The debate I was involved in was whether a specific person had jumped off the roof or from an apartment window. The inquiry had a jury of citizens which could ask questions. Some of these peers accused me of running an unsafe building based on inuendo alone. Nobody except me had read any of the city building reports. These reports were ignored by the jury. Basically, on the grounds that they were embarrassed because they had not done their homework. I was a kid that had no idea of what I was getting into with this inquiry but I at least had a document with an official stamp. I insisted that the jumper went out a 17th floor apt. window as I knew the room was being cleaned & repaired at the time of the fall. From eye witnesses, I knew the room had been left open and unattended for long periods of time. Other eye witnesses told me they saw the jumper prowling the 17th floor hall that evening. None of these people would talk to the police so it was up to me at this enquiry to set the record straight. The police and jury seemed to want to believe he jumped off the roof even though he landed in a car right under the window of the apartment. I knew the fall happened from a 17th floor apartment that was being cleaned and painted not the roof. My bleeding-heart Christian cleaning crew had confessed in tears that they had taken a break that night and might not have locked the door. They asked me to protect them. I told them I didn’t want any names. The person that fell was known in the Klinik as a potential suicide. There was even a story around why he chose that apartment. The tale was based on the car he landed on and a woman. He was known to wander the halls at night. Nobody in the court would listen except the judge. When I said I didn’t think the fall was from the roof he stopped all questioning and asked me to explain. I told him the crew had confessed to me the lock was hard to work and may have not secured the door. The judge did not want to hear the crazy love goddess tale as to why he jumped on that car. He considered it hearsay. But, he did get me off the stand immediately. I have no idea what the final outcome of the inquiry was. Previous Exit Next |