Fargo apartment building declared dangerous, city working with owners

FARGO (KVRR-KFGO) – The City of Fargo has declared the apartment building at 1202 1st Avenue S. a dangerous building.

Inspections Director Shawn Ouradnik says the designation was made after a July 7th fire that did significant damage to a basement apartment unit and smoke damage throughout the two-story building.

There was also a SWAT team call in June where police used an armored loader-type vehicle known as a “rook” to pull off a large window from the east side of the building to look for a man who was wanted on a warrant.

“There’s charring and stuff on a lot of the framing members,” Ouradnik says. “Smoke damage throughout the building, entry doors have been kicked in. An electrical meter was removed due to the fire. I do believe there’s some electrical back on. Basement walls have shown some significant movement. There are braces in place, but there are still questions about the stability of those.”

Ouradnik says the Inspections Department has been working with the owner to determine whether repairs can be made or if the building will have to be torn down.

“We visited with the owners a couple of times, and they have been working with their insurance company, as well as Fargo PD about some of the damage to the window,” Ouradnik says. “They’re trying to pull money together to see what they can do with the property.”

Squatters have been known to be in the building and police have been called to the address 17 times since the first of the year.

There was also a significant fire five years ago.

Ouradnik says the city commission will be asked to schedule a public hearing on the status of the property for Sept. 1.