The Chinatown building blasted apart by pesticide bombs had been illegally subdivided and was using illegal gas and plumbing lines, city building officials said.
The slipshod structure at 17 Pike Street — which went up in a fiery explosion just before 1 p.m. yesterday, injuring at least nine people — has been ordered emptied of all tenants.
"A full vacate order was issued for the property due to the presence of illegal conversions in the building," said Dept. of Buildings spokeswoman Kelly Magee.
DOB inspectors found illegal partitions that compromised exits on the second through fifth floors of the five-story prewar building, according to a newly-filed complaint, which also cited the exploding bug bombs as causing the partial collapse of the structure.
Paul Martinka
DIGGING: Firefighters search for victims in a section of the building that collapsed in yesterday's blast.
The investigation also revealed "illegal plumbing work and gas lines" in the "shaking/vibrating" building, which houses a beauty parlor and bus company on the ground floor, and is listed as an "18 family dwelling" in city records.
It is unclear how many people were living in the building, or how many subdivided apartments there were. But the Red Cross yesterday had 61 people from 17 Pike – 46 adults and 15 children – register for emergency assistance.
Owner Mary Shiu, who lives in Princeton Junction, NJ, was issued a violation for work without a permit, installation of the illegal partitions and the plumbing and gas lines.
The exploded pesticide canisters, known as foggers, were found in the building's Piao Liang Ren Sheng Beauty Salon.
The cans "blew out a load-bearing wall" in the five-story prewar structure, a source said.
The blast caused the back of the first floor to collapse.
Resident Wang Xiao told investigators she put out 24 of the bug bombs on Wednesday but they didn't do the trick.
So she put out another 24 yesterday and left them unattended. Aerosol from the canisters is believed to have ignited on a pilot light, the source said.
Three victims were in critical condition, and four were in serious condition at two hospitals late Thursday, authorities said. Two firefighters were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Assistant Fire Chief Robert Boyce yesterday told The Post that the building had fire-code violations.
"We did have existing code violations for this building, and we are looking into that," Boyce said, declining to elaborate.
The building owners were last cited in 2009 for working without permits and failure to maintain the building, records show.
Inspectors ordered the building evacuated in January 2009 after it was found unsafe and shaking. Residents were allowed to return in March that year.
That same year, floors were found rotted and in danger of collapse. There was also a lack of fire-stopping material. The complaints were resolved, records show.
At the scene last night, owwner Shiu's husband, Thomas, claimed, "Everything is fine…Everything is under control. We handled everything."
But tenants said they have long complained of bad wiring and water leaks, as well as general disrepair.
Con Ed turned off gas and power to the building as a precaution but did not know whether there had been a gas leak.
The FDNY's Boyce said the fire ripped through the first floor and spread to the second and third.
The blast caused part of the first-floor mezzanine to collapse, he said.
The Red Cross said 34 adults and seven kids from the building's apartments registered for emergency help.
"I was sitting down watching TV when I heard what sounded like a bomb. I thought the roof was falling down, and I yelled, 'Oh, s--t,' " recalled John Sua, 24, manager of Brothers Bus Line.
"The Fire Department came right away, and I saw them carry a boy around 12 years old out. He was bleeding from the back, but he was moving."
Tsz Kan Cheung, 65, who was eating lunch in Unit 4D, said, "It felt like an earthquake shaking the building. The wall was cracking behind me.
"I saw one woman run out after me. The skin in her leg was gone. She just sat on the street outside, and when I asked her how she was, she couldn't talk."
Additional reporting by Lorena Mongelli, Kirstan Conley and Gillian Kleiman
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