Rats weren't seen at S. Boston house
Complaints filed, but inspectors didn't enter home
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Seven days before a South Boston home was declared unfit for human dwelling by the city's Inspectional Services Department, an inspector was at the same house but left when no signs could be found that someone was "throwing rats" out of the dwelling, a department official said yesterday.
The Sept. 12 visit was the second time since June 2007 that the department took a look at the Tudor Street home of Mary J. Ryan, who authorities said was living in squalid conditions with two of her adult children and a 5-year-old granddaughter.
In both cases, inspectors did not go inside the single-family home, said Dion Irish, assistant commissioner of the Inspectional Services Department. He said that in both instances, inspectors left because they could not find any evidence that the home had a bad smell, or that rats were being thrown out, as anonymous callers had alleged.
"We looked to see if there was any evidence of [code] violations at the time," Irish said of the 2007 inspection.
"They did not see any visible violations, nor did they smell any odor."
He said because the 2007 tip was made anonymously, the department had no one else to contact to prompt further investigation.
The agency was contacted again anonymously, this time on Sept. 10, by a caller who again said someone was "throwing rats outside." But Irish said when an inspector visited the house Sept. 12, no evidence of rats was found.
"We have no reason to think the inspectors are not being honest with us," Irish said. "They went out and didn't see any violations. They did not detect an odor a year ago. They didn't see any evidence of rodent activity."
But on Friday, firefighters did get inside the Ryan home to investigate high levels of carbon monoxide and discovered the family was living in a garbage-strewn house, and the 5-year-old girl, Isabella, was naked and covered with feces, among other disturbing conditions.
Irish said the discovery gave the department the legal basis for entering the home and declaring it unfit for humans, as the agency did on Friday.
Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families said Isabella remained in foster care through a Juvenile Court order, pending an investigation into her family situation.
Alison Goodwin, spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families, said the girl's biological father has not contacted authorities. She identified the girl's mother as Tracey Ryan, one of the adults living inside the home, who authorities said was 41 years old.
Mary J. Ryan was listed in good condition at Boston Medical Center yesterday while a spokeswoman for Massachusetts General Hospital said Tracey Ryan was released from there Friday. Thomas Ryan, 40, the third adult, was not hospitalized. Neither Tracey nor Thomas Ryan could be reached for comment yesterday.
Irish said his agency will hold an administrative hearing this morning where Mary J. Ryan, as the owner of the home, is supposed to outline how she will clean up the house.
Meanwhile,
Mike Durand, an NStar spokesman, said the high levels of carbon monoxide had collected in the soil under the street. The utility planned to remove the soil and replace it in hopes of ridding the neighborhood of the dangerous gas.
The utility provided housing and food for residents forced out of their homes.
Neighbors have said they did not know anyone other than Mary J. Ryan was living regularly inside the home, which remained boarded up yesterday.
John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.
