The city has cleared out four long-abandoned mobile homes at the Quaker Court trailer park following years of fires and safety concerns.
Law Director Marvin Fete told city council this week that two arsons in the past three years there — the most recent about seven months ago — destroyed four trailers and displaced an elderly resident.
Fete says the remaining vacant units had been sitting abandoned for years. After multiple fire code violations went unchallenged, the city moved to condemn the mobile homes and ordered the owners to remove them within 30 days.
The company overseeing the park initially pushed back, but after negotiations, crews tore down all four structures by February 19th — ahead of the deadline and at no cost to the city.
Fete praised the work of Code Enforcement Administrator Josh Mathias and Fire Captain Jim Schultz – the fire department’s fire inspector, saying the city remains aggressive in addressing unsafe and abandoned properties across New Philadelphia.
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