BURLINGTON, Vt. -
A vacant home intentionally set on fire this past July is still in the exact same condition today. And now, neighbors and the city are fed up.
After the city's code enforcement issued numerous citations, the man who owns the torched home could face criminal charges.
Chris Khamnei is the landlord of several properties in Burlington, and is the only person in the city who has a vacant property that's not secured.
He isn't a suspect in the house fire, but he is accused of violating city codes. The city has already given him months to clean up the property, but Khamnei claims financial hardship.
---
A vacant home nearly burned to the ground this past July on Manhattan Drive in Burlington. It hasn't been touched since then.
"It's unacceptable," the Code Enforcement Director Bill Ward said.
And that's why the property owner, Chris Khamnei has been issued numerous violations from the city's code enforcement department.
"The two main requirements are that the property be secured and that the premises be kept generally clean and sanitary," Ward said.
But Khamnei is claiming he doesn't have enough money to clean it up. The city says he canceled insurance on that property just a month before it burnt down. I stopped by his home to ask a few questions, but he didn't want to talk.
Neighbors on the other hand have plenty to say. "Mr. Khamnei has no respect for us," Michael Kuk said.
Especially Kuk, who lost the side of his home in the fire.
"The entire neighborhood is getting fed up with him. I worry about property value, but more than that I worry about just the blight it has on the neighborhood," Kuk said.
Every window is open, the doors are unlocked, there's not even a roof so the city fears that this could be a place where homeless are sleeping, illegal activity is taking place and is just simply dangerous.
At this point, the city plans to give Khamnei a shorter window to become compliant before it seeks criminal charges. If it's still not resolved, they'll take it one step further.
"What the building inspector would be saying is it's just so dangerous that the city would then be forced to take action," Ward said.
Khamnei says he doesn't have the finances to fix the home, but he does own at least seven other rental properties in Burlington. Those properties also had numerous code violations.
I reached out to the Vermont state police fire investigator, he told me the arson is still an active and open case.
