Fire, building staff describe hoarding as public‑safety, health risk and outline humane, multiagency response

Chris Mails, the city fire chief, and Battalion Chief Ryan DeGiulio, the fire marshal, told the Fire and Police Commission that the department’s response to substandard housing and hoarding is a prolonged, multiagency process focused first on life safety and then on restoring livable conditions.

"Hoarding disorder is a mental health condition characterized by an inability to discard certain belongings to the point of unhealthy accumulation," DeGiulio said, attributing the definition he used to Harvard. He described a clutter‑to‑hoarding scale used to assess conditions and said the fire department becomes involved when accumulation reaches levels that block utilities, create fire loads or prevent safe access inside a structure.

Mails and DeGiulio emphasized that hoarding cases endanger not only occupants but also first responders and neighboring properties. DeGiulio said firefighters have encountered houses so obstructed by newspapers and debris that crews could not make interior access; he added that many fatal fires the department responds to have involved hoarding conditions.

The fire department said it collaborates with Building and Safety, Planning and the City Attorney’s Office and, when needed, seeks assistance from outside agencies such as County Public Health and Adult Protective Services. The team opens an enforcement case when conditions reach a hazardous level and coordinates monthly multi‑department meetings to review and prioritize cases.

Commissioners asked how cases are initiated; staff said most referrals come from neighbors, family members or field units (engine companies) that discover dangerous conditions while responding to separate calls. Staff said gaining access and consent is often difficult because occupants may be isolated and resistant to government intervention.

If voluntary cooperation cannot be secured, staff described escalating legal remedies. A City Attorney’s Office representative said the city may pursue civil remedies that can include a receivership petition to the court; if the court appoints a receiver, the receiver can abate the hazards and the owner must generally repay costs to recover the property. The representative described receivership as a civil remedy of last resort that can result in a public auction of the property if costs are not repaid.

Chief Mails and DeGiulio described other non‑punitive strategies: working with family and friends to secure cooperation, providing dumpsters or other resources to assist cleanup, and coordinating social services to address underlying mental‑health needs. They said cases can take months or years to fully resolve because the root of the problem is often a mental‑health condition.

Commissioner Dozer asked what citizens can do; staff said neighbors can report concerns to city departments, which will open an enforcement case and coordinate interdepartmental response. The department reiterated its preference for a humane, patient approach that begins with human services and family engagement and reserves civil enforcement for situations that pose ongoing risks to occupants or neighbors.