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Charges to be filed against owners of fire-damaged rental properties

The cause of Monday’s fire at 1533-1535 Memorial Ave. that left 14 people homeless has been ruled accidental and the owners of both properties will be charged by the city’s codes department with failure to register the houses as rental units, according to city Fire Chief C. Dean Heinbach.

Heinbach said the two-alarm blaze was sparked by a pan of grease left burning unattended on a stove in 1533 Memorial Ave., Heinbach said.

Total damage was estimated at $125,000.

Heinbach said Wednesday that the properties were not a double as initially believed, but two separate houses very close together. The owners of the houses have been identified as Antonio Szkaradek, of Columbia S.C., (1533), and Emmanes Doxy, of Vauxhall, N.J. (1535).

Concerning another fire, Heinbach said the cause of Sunday morning’s fire at Francis Cummings’ home on Malvern Place has been ruled electrical in nature.

The basement fire caused an an estimated $30,000 damage.

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