Clarksburg — Camden Cutlip told the City Council on Dec. 18 that a fire that destroyed his parents’ home at 1116 North 24th Street might have been preventable and that the city’s own FOIA responses show no inspection records, call logs, or internal communications documenting code-enforcement actions.

“There was no call logs. There was no inspection notes. There was no internal communication documenting the decision making,” Cutlip said during the public-comment period, and he urged the council to act immediately.

Cutlip described a months-long effort by his family to report concerns about an adjacent, poorly maintained property and said their requests were met with silence. He told council he received FOIA materials that appear incomplete and said the city has an obligation to either produce existing records or formally deny their existence under FOIA rules.

Later in the meeting council took up an agenda item that would authorize the city to absorb total demolition costs for a burned structure at 1116 North 24th Street. Council members and public speakers debated whether investigations by the fire marshal and police should be completed before the city commits to payment and whether code-enforcement procedures had been followed. A council member moved to table the item until the investigations are complete; the motion carried.

Council members asked staff to provide investigative reports and to compile any documentation showing prior code-enforcement activity or work orders. Officials said they will revisit the item when the fire-marshal and police reports are finished.