No records of fire safety inspections, but Cleveland chief claims they’re done: I-Team

CLEVELAND (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team just went one-on-one with the Cleveland fire chief asking why we’ve found no records for regular safety inspections for high-rises or big buildings in the city.

Our reporting led to a city council hearing, Wednesday, and we caught up with chief Anthony Luke.

Luke claimed, he can explain, saying, “There are records of fire inspections.”

But, again, we’ve reported, the city has said it has no records of regular safety inspections for buildings such as high-rises.

We also asked for safety code violations for 2023, and the fire department sent us other records dating back to the 1940s.

For months, we’ve requested records. And, yet, the chief says the I-Team just never asked the right way.

“The documents that you’re looking for, you haven’t asked for the right documents,” he said.

So, we responded with, “How much clearer can that be? What should we be asking for if we’re asking for inspection records and we’re told there are none?”

Chief Luke said, “There’s a lot of leeway where I can get you the records you want.”

We’ve seen fires break out in Cleveland high-rises.

Still, the chief told us we were wrong to ask for regular inspections at “maximum risk” buildings even though it is outlined in a policy.

The chief added, “High-risk buildings. We don’t have a classification like that.”

We reminded him, “It’s on page one of your policy.”

The chief, then, said, “That policy is incorrect.”

Chief Luke added he has been in the process of updating policies, saying they have inspections in every building every year.

The city also told us it had no records of regular inspections even at city hall. But, consider what we found in the basement. We saw signs telling people to not leave unwanted furniture or files in the hallway due to the fire code. Nonetheless, all throughout long hallways, we saw endless piles of old furniture, pieces of office equipment, and so much more.

The Cleveland City Council Public Safety Committee held a hearing as a result of I-Team reporting.

The chief told council, nothing is getting missed. Although, he added, the fire department needs to keep better records.

“We have to get better at the way we organize our records, the way we retain our records, and the way we report out our records,” the chief said, at the hearing,

During the hearing, the chief also told council, some fire hazards had been found at city rec centers. Yet, weeks ago, the city had given us form letters saying there were no fire safety issues found by the Public Works Dept. at rec centers.

Back out in the hallway, the Chief said, “I can tell the citizens of Cleveland, and you, that safety is not impacted in any way.”

Still, he never explained what to ask for to see proof.