City workers, police evict residents after Vandalia motel shutdown due to safety violations

VANDALIA — City workers took over a Vandalia motel Monday morning and enforced the city’s shutdown orders.

On Aug. 15, an inspection of the Super 8 motel in Vandalia showed that the motel had failed to correct multiple violations of the city’s fire code, some dating back to 2019, according to a release from city officials.

Criminal charges were also filed against the two general managers of the facility, Ahmad Tariq Mahmood and Cheena Naved Ahmed.

Both were arrested and charged with knowingly violating the State of Ohio Fire Code, according to city officials.

The building itself was deemed unsafe and ordered to be vacated by Monday, Aug. 22.

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“Those violations were still in existence, they had not been corrected and we made the decision at that point to pull the operating permit because its an unsafe structure,” Rich Hopkins, communications manager for the city of Vandalia said.

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell was there as Vandalia police and fire crews made sure the facility was emptied of guests and took steps to make sure it stayed that way.

Contractors for the city spent much of the day Monday boarding up windows and doors.

Before those work crews moved in, Vandalia police officers and firefighters went door to door telling residents they had to leave.

Workers finished boarding up almost the entire first floor by Monday evening. The facility has three floors and almost 90 rooms.

News Center 7 reached out to workers at the hotel for a comment, but they declined to comment.

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Vandalia fire investigators said they gave the motel plenty of chances to upgrade things, their investigations began three years ago.

Violations include many smoke alarms in the room needed repaired, the fact the fire suppression system was not working and that the hotel was allowing long-term stays and cooking devices in room, in violation of the terms of their permit.

That permit is now pulled until repairs are made.

“We’re going to do what is in the best interests of the people of Vandalia, in this case, it is revoke the permit, make sure this place remains safe before anyone comes back in,” Hopkins said.

Before the motel is able to reopen, they need the approval from the fire department, city building inspectors and the police department.

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