State fire officials presented the city with $20,000 Wednesday to cover the fire department's costs in extinguishing a 2013 fire in a hi-rise building that had unresolved fire code violations, which hampered firefighting efforts.
Trenton Fire Department Director Qareeb Bashir accepted the check from Louis Kilmer, chief of the Bureau of Fire Code Enforcement in the state's Division of Fire Safety, at Trenton fire headquarters.
Both men said they hope other property owners see this as a what can happen if properties are not in compliance with fire codes.
"It's meant to send a message," Kilmer said.
Bashir said said property owners should be thinking of their residents when thinking of code violations. "Following the code enhances the safety of residents, and firefighters," the director said.
The $20,000 represents Trenton's portion of what the state was able to recoup from the owners of the Regency House apartments in the 1300 block of West State Street.
The building's owner has alternately been listed as 1315 ESS Holdings of Brooklyn, N.Y. and 1315 WSS Holdings of Lakewood.