Portland Task Force to Meet With Landlords, Tenants

A task force created in the wake of a fatal Portland, Maine, fire will meet with landlords, tenants and the Portland Housing Authority in January to develop its final recommendations.

Portland officials created the Fire/Code Inspections Task Force after six people died in a Nov. 1 apartment house fire. The house had a history of code violations. The task force will meet four times in January to develop recommendations it will present to the City Council’s Public Safety, Health & Human Services Committee on Feb. 10.

The Nov. 1 fire killed Nicole Finlay, David Bragdon Jr., Ashley Thomas and Christopher Conlee, all of Portland, Maelisha Jackson of Topsham and Steven Summers of Rockland. It is still under investigation. The fire was the worst in Portland is more than 50 years.