Tenants ousted by fire seek more details

Residents displaced by the deadly Marco Polo condominium fire, which killed three residents, welcomed Thursday’s announcement that federal loans are available to help them recover from property losses, but remain frustrated that after two months they have little information about when they can get back into sealed-off, damaged units.

Roughly 270 of the 568 units in the high-rise suffered damage from fire, smoke, heat and water, according to the U.S. Small Business Association, and 64 suffered uninsured losses of more than 50 percent of each unit’s property value.

The seven-alarm July 14 fire broke out on the 26th floor of the Marco Polo and quickly spread, resulting in three fatalities and more than $100 million in damage.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced the opening of SBA’s Disaster Loan Outreach Center at a press conference Thursday morning in the lobby of the 36-story high-rise at 2333 Kapiolani Blvd.

“We can never bring those lives back, and I wish we could address the hurt their families are feeling to this day,” said Caldwell, “but there are other things we can do for those who did suffer in this building, and today’s about that, helping those who are looking to recover in this beautiful Marco Polo condominium.”

The federally sponsored loans became available after Caldwell issued disaster declarations for the catastrophe. The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays until Sept. 28.

Low-interest loans of up to $2 million are available to businesses to repair disaster property damage, while homeowners and renters may borrow up to $40,000 to replace personal property. Homeowners may borrow up to $200,000 to repair or replace their primary residence.

While Karin Lynn, owner of a unit on the 27th floor, is pleased to hear of the loans, she is still seeking answers from Associa Hawaii, the condo’s management company. The 26th and 27th floors have been completely sealed off, she said, and residents of those units are in the dark about when they can return.

“We kind of feel like we’ve been treated differently than everyone else,” said Lynn, a retired Navy officer who is renting another Marco Polo condo in the meantime. “Our units have not been looked at for damage. They’ve been closed up now for almost nine weeks.”

All she has been told, she said, is that there are health and safety concerns and that an additional investigation is going on. Her condo, which is on the Diamond Head side of the building, appeared relatively intact when she first retrieved her computer, credit cards and keys the day after the fire. She expected to return in a week, having nothing other than the clothes she had packed for a trip to Canada.

She continues to pay about $700 in maintenance fees. She has also heard that all units on the floor might have to be gutted out.

Fortunately, she has condo insurance, but her adjuster has not been able to visit her unit to assess the damage. She plans to apply for an SBA loan.

Lynn said some of her elderly neighbors are in worse shape.

Martha Katz, 96, has been unable to retrieve her medications or any other belongings, other than a few clothes about three days after the fire, according to her son-in-law, Dr. Raymond Fodor. Katz is staying with him in Kailua for the time being.

“To this moment we have no information, and we’ve been through the whole mill,” he said. “I would say that we’re being stonewalled. No matter who we spoke to, you don’t know who is the leader in charge. Everyone tells you something’s being done, but nothing is being done.”

Lynn shared a letter from the condo association informing her that ENPRO Environmental is testing samples on the restricted floors and has found “soot and dust containing potentially hazardous combustion byproducts of fire” in common areas and in many units.

She finds it vague and wants more details so she can inform her insurance company what is going on.

Thomas Schmidt, a hotel developer and original owner of a condo on the 26th floor, is renting another unit on the 24th floor until the investigation is complete.

“What’s important now is that we, as Marco Polo residents, join forces to create our own fire safety system to prevent a similar tragedy in the future,” he wrote in a letter to other owners. “We owe this to the lives of our neighbors who died.”