WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — City officials say the Worcester apartment building in which a veteran firefighter lost his life had been the subject of three housing complaints and several code violations in the last year.

Jon Davies was killed yesterday and his partner injured when a portion of the burning building collapsed while they were searching for a missing resident.

The complaints were to be the subject of a Housing Court hearing later this month.

The building manager, Michael Chan, told the Telegram & Gazette that the complaints were lodged by disgruntled residents facing eviction for non-payment of rent. He also said he did not feel safe going into the building to fix some of the code violations because of arguments he had with tenants.

The cause of the deadly blaze has not been determined.
 

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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Firefighter dies in Mass. multi-family home blaze

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Worcester's fire chief says a firefighter killed when he was trapped at an early morning apartment fire was a 17-year veteran who has a son serving in the military in Afghanistan.

Gerard Dio also said at a Thursday morning news conference that a second firefighter injured is expected to recover.

He said the firefighters were searching for a possible missing resident when part of the structure collapsed on them. Dio said it's still not known if there is another victim. A search will resume when the building is stabilized.

Dio said the firefighter who died was Jon Davies. The chief said his injured partner is Brian Carroll, a 14-year department veteran who's in stable condition.

The fire occurred just over 12 years after six Worcester firefighters were killed in a massive warehouse blaze.
 

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.