Fire Marshal shuts down old Popular Building downtown

The Fire Marshal has evacuated and closed the Fallas Paredes building in Downtown El Paso after it allegedly found evidence of a recent fire and “detected an odor consistent with an electrical fire in the building,” the City of El Paso said.

The Vacant Building Task Force issued a Notice of Emergency Action for the building, which once housed the Popular department store, at 301 E. San Antonio Avenue after the City Fire Marshal allegedly found evidence of the recent fire.

According to the city, the Building and Standards Commission had previously put the owners of the building on a 30, 60, and 90-day compliance schedule. The violations were found during the 60-day check, the City said.

“The Fire Marshal deemed the extent of the unsafe conditions of the building … present an imminent danger to the occupants of the building,” the City said in a news release.

Under the 2015 International Property Maintenance Code adopted by the City of El Paso, imminent danger is defined as “a condition which would cause serious or life-threatening injury or death at any time.”

The City said no residents were living in the building and Fallas Paredes, a discount retail store, was the only tenant in the building’s ground level floor.

“If the recent findings are corrected, they will be allowed to reopen. However, they will need to adhere to the compliance schedule set by the Buildings and Standards Commission,” City of El Paso Spokeswoman Irma Lopez said in a statement emailed to ABC-7.

In June 2018, ABC-7 was granted access to the building by John Edwards, 46, who said he had been living in the building for 13 years. Once inside, ABC-7’s cameras captured feces on the floor, as well as a large hole on the wall and ceiling.

“We had a period, not too long ago, where there were a lot of kids walking up the fire escape, like bashing in doors and screwing around with things,” Edwards said is regards to what he considered lax security at the building.

The old Popular Building was bought by J&M Properties, which owns the California-based Fallas Paredes discount stores chain. At the time ABC-7 interviewed Edwards, an attorney representing J&M Properties declined to comment for our story.