3 former members of the Marco Island Fire Department accused of falsifying more than 200 inspections

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MARCO ISLAND, Fla. More than 200 fire inspections conducted by the Marco Island Fire Department between Oct. 1 and Nov. 3, 2021 were faked, according to a year-long Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigation .

The Marco Island Fire Marshal and his fire inspectors have repeatedly cleared schools, churches, businesses, medical centers, and homes as safe, without ever setting foot on the property.

See what happened on the east coast not too long ago. Our firefighters weren’t doing any inspections. Are many of these beach buildings susceptible to erosion? Do the fire systems work? It’s a very dangerous situation, said Captain Richard Stoltenborg, of the Marco Island Police Department.

The nearly 20-page report concluded that Fire Marshal John Harris, Fire Inspector Stephen Allen and Fire Inspector Adrian Garcia-Casals suffered a severe backlog of inspections during the COVID-19 pandemic and fell behind by around 400 inspections.

Marco Island Police first became involved on October 26, 2021, when Garcia-Casals posted 73 inspections in one day, as well as three in about 1 minute.

Typically, fire inspections include actions such as checking for hazards, making sure that fire extinguishers and smoke detectors are working, and that buildings are in top condition.

It was an “impossible” breakthrough, according to the report.

Firefighters are on top of it. It will be taken care of. They’ll conduct the inspections,” Captain Stoltenborg said.

In recorded testimony within the FLDE investigation, Vicki Huff, a Marco Island administrative assistant, provided this reasoning for the false reports:

“Huff said when the Fire Administration saw the overdue inspections, they were concerned that the fire inspectors were all these overdue inspections. Huff said we’ve been told to take them out.

There has been suspicious activity or no activity regarding fire inspections throughout the city. There appeared to be around 200 inspections at the time that were thought to have been done but hadn’t been done, said Captain Stoltenborg.

While the report concluded that these reports were falsified, the Florida state attorney general ruled that none of the men would face criminal prosecution.

Harris, Allen and Garcia-Casals have all resigned, according to the Marco Island Police Department.

Marco Island Fire tells NBC2 they plan to conduct proper inspections at locations that have been spoofed.

This is an ongoing investigation. Count on NBC2 to bring you new information as it becomes available.

Below is a list of multiple properties on Marco Island, many of which were identified on questionable Marco Island Fire Inspection Reports between October 4, 2021 and November 17, 2021, according to the report.

Dockside, 848 West Elkcam Cir Casa DeMarco, 1041 S. Collier Blvd Pavillion Club, 1170 Eddington PL Marco Island Medical Center, 531-535 Bald Eagle Dr The Voyager, 908 Collier Ct Paradise Village, 825 Elkcam Cir Island Manor, Buildings A, B , C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, 87 N. Collier Blvd Admiralty House, 140 Seaview Ct Les Falls, 546 Tallwood St Old Marco Inn & Suites, 100 Palm St Plantation, 1000 S. Collier Blvd Prince, 176 S. Collier Blvd South Seas III, 380-440 Seaview Ct South Seas Tower IV, 380-440 Seaview Ct Surf Club Marco, 540 S. Collier Blvd Surfside Club, 1012 S. Collier Blvd French Village, 411 S. Collier Blvd Club Marco, 500 Club Marco Dr. South Seas East, 601 Seaview Ct. Villa Delmar, 816 W. Elkcam Cir Princess Delmar, 174 S. Collier Blvd Anglers Cove, Buildings, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, M, 999-1031 Anglers Cove Village at Smokehouse Bay, 837 W. Elkcam Way Marco’s Surf Club, 540 S. Collier Blvd Caxambas Tower, 1036 S. Collier Blvd Le Club Caxambas, 920 Collier Ct Marco Island Boat Club, 870 Collier Ct Casa De Marco, 1041 S. Collier Blvd Shipps Landing I, 1080 S. Collier Blvd Shipps Landing II, 1090 S. Collier Blvd Shipps Landing III, 1100 S. Collier Blvd The Voyager, 908 Collier Ct Dockside, 848 W. Elkcam Cir

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