BUENA PARK : Fire Officials Get Tough With Motels

City fire officials are stepping up enforcement of laws requiring motel and hotel operators to install and maintain smoke detectors in rooms--or face prosecution.

The city plans to seek court orders next week requiring two Beach Boulevard motels to install electrically wired smoke detectors in all rooms instead of relying on battery-operated detectors that are often disconnected by guests.

Gregory P. Palmer, deputy city prosecutor, said the owners of the Pioneer Motel, at 7851 Beach Blvd., and the Capri Motel, at 7860 Beach Blvd., will face a court hearing next Tuesday.

An arson-caused fire last week at the Pioneer Motel left two people with critical burns. After an inspection, only three of the motel’s 65 rooms were found to have working smoke detectors, Fire Marshal Donald C. Tully said.

“Because of the extent of the fire they had there, we’re not going to allow battery-operated smoke detectors but hard-wired smoke detectors,” Tully said. “Then we don’t have to worry about batteries being taken out or running out.”

Wired detectors are also more difficult to disconnect, he said.

Palmer said the Capri Motel has also failed to maintain smoke detectors.

After a fire in a room at the Capri Motel in June, fire officials found that some rooms did not have detectors while others had detectors with dead batteries, Palmer said.

In such cases, instead of the city’s taking the motel owners to court, an attempt is made to work out an agreement to ensure compliance, Palmer said. The motel owner agrees to random inspections by fire officials, to perform monthly inspections and keep a log, and to have housekeepers check detectors daily.

“These agreements are strictly enforced, and any breach of agreement, no matter how slight, is going to court,” Palmer said.

The owner of the 71-room Capri Motel had such an agreement with the city. But during an inspection last week, officials found that at least 39 rooms had smoke detectors that didn’t work, Tully said.

Now the city is going to pursue a court order, he said.

Motel owners said it’s a never-ending battle to maintain smoke detectors because guests disable them by removing batteries or taking them off walls.

“They think (smoke detectors are) camera eyes,” said Peter Ting, manager at the Capri Motel. “They think we’re spying.”

But Ting said he realizes the importance of making sure that smoke detectors work.

“This is a very serious problem--we care about it,” he said. “We keep checking all the time.”

The Crescent Motel, at 8530 Beach Blvd., also was found to have inoperable smoke detectors during an inspection in September, Tully said.

Palmer met with the owners of the 80-room Crescent Motel last week, and an agreement was reached that will require random inspections by fire officials during the next two years.

In 1985, the city adopted an ordinance requiring smoke detectors in hotel and motel rooms. Like all businesses, motels and hotels are routinely inspected just once a year.

Because recent inspections have turned up a number of motels in violation of city fire codes, Tully said, inspection policies will be changed. Instead of firefighters helping to spot-check rooms, fire prevention inspectors will now perform motel and hotel inspections and will check every room, he said.

Tully said fire officials will also be contacting motel and hotel managers to remind them to perform routine checks of detectors.