CRACKHOUSE OF HORRORS

NIAGARA FALLS -- In a filthy kitchen, not far from a mound of human feces
and a specimen bottle filled with what appears to be blood, sit cans of
baby formula.

In the living room, colourful Lego building blocks and small plastic dolls
lay among a sea of used hypodermic needles and condoms.

The ramshackle single-storey home on Stanley Avenue near Emery Street is
abandoned, yet it is rarely empty.

For hookers and drug addicts, the home is a safe place to shoot up, perform
a trick or raise a child.

To police and fire officials, however, it's a ticking time bomb that needs
to be diffused.

Shortly after midnight on Oct. 2, a passing motorist called 911 and
reported smoke coming from the building.

Fire crews kicked aside unopened gas and hydro bills and forced open the
side door.

"They were met with a wall of smoke and complete blackness and they went in
on their hands and knees," recalled Insp. Jim Jessop, a fire prevention
officer with the Niagara Falls Fire Department.

As they crawled along the floor searching for victims, they quickly
realized the danger was not in the flames, but on the floor as dozens of
syringes pierced their suits.

"In this case, the biohazard health risks were more dangerous than the fire
risks were to the responding firefighters, police officers and paramedics,"
Jessop said.

The crew battled two small fires, one in the living room and one in a back
bedroom. Both were quickly extinguished.

When the smoke cleared, the firefighters surveyed the home and were shocked
by what they found.

The house is virtually devoid of furniture except for a television, a
battered couch and dirty mattresses strewn about the floor.

"These people do their drugs, the prostitutes perform their tricks for the
crack cocaine and they have their children running around in here. It's
really sad."

The property owner, an American resident who has never visited the site,
told fire officials he does not intend to reoccupy the house or the
similarly-dilapidated two-storey home next door.

Due to the condition of the home and the risks to firefighters and the
general public, the fire department has ordered the building demolished.

The owner, who fire officials say was not aware of what was going on in the
building, has agreed to the order. He has until Nov. 12 to bring the house
down.

As for the Oct. 2 fire, Jessop said the outcome could have been far worse.

"If they had been cooking chemicals for their drugs, there could have been
an explosion. If someone had passed out, without question, we would have
had a death on our hands."

Also, after the fire was extinguished, the firefighters had to have dozens
of syringes removed for their suits. Luckily, the heavy material of the
clothing stopped any needles from piercing the skin.

Jessop said the fire department wants to send a strong message to absentee
landlords and owners similar situations will not be tolerated in Niagara Falls.

"If they have vacant buildings and they don't follow their obligations, we
will use every tool available to us under the Ontario Fire Protection and
Prevention Act to protect our the citizens and responding emergency personnel."

Jessop said the Stanley Avenue building is not an isolated incident, adding
there are other known crack houses in Niagara Falls.

He urges residents to contact local police and fire prevention office if
they suspect a home is being used for drug use.