When city inspectors showed up at an Oakland building yesterday to test the fire safety systems, they found not just an active kitchen fire, but a prime example of the slow-burn process of enforcing the city code.

The building, at 3408 Parkview Ave., has been the subject of city of Pittsburgh enforcement efforts for nearly a year. Even before a court-ordered, top-to-bottom inspection of the building that started Thursday, fire and building inspectors were there at least five times in a year, issuing warnings and then citations, some of which they later withdrew.

To Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, the arrival of inspectors even as a small fire poured smoke into the hallways "speaks volumes to the fact that there were real problems there" that the administration was trying to address as part of its Oakland cleanup push.

To Jason Cohen, a Dormont-based landlord whose firm owns the building, the city's inspections seem to be a never-ending cycle. Inspectors, he said yesterday, were "drawing up a whole new list" after a fire inspector gave the building an OK two months earlier.

Inspectors arrived at the 42-unit building around 8 a.m. yesterday for day two of a full review ordered by District Judge Gene Ricciardi at a Wednesday hearing. They were told of a 911 call that came in almost simultaneously, pulled the alarm and noted that some of the speakers weren't working. An inspector went through the building, pounding doors to get people out.

Once residents were evacuated unharmed, and the stovetop fire was out, inspectors resumed their work.

"There were some alarms in the building that did not sound, mainly on the first floor," said Public Safety Director Michael Huss. Most of the smoke detectors in the building were inoperable. The city posted a firefighter at the site, at Mr. Cohen's expense, until all smoke detectors and alarms are up and running.

The findings were not that different from those noted in a May 23, 2007, inspection report. Then, the city found a lack of smoke detectors, fireproof doors and walls, exit sign lights and emergency ways out. The Bureau of Building Inspection sent out a Dangerous Conditions Notice that also noted a slew of other violations like holes in the foundation, trash and fallen siding.

Inspectors were back on Nov. 28, and found that many problems remained, including a lack of working fire extinguishers. On Dec. 11, they got a call from the mother of one tenant complaining of a lack of heat since October. In late January, the bureau wrote up housing code complaints that took until March 31 to reach Judge Ricciardi's court, and came to a hearing on Wednesday.

Since the job of handling code violations shifted at the beginning of the year from a single judge based Downtown to all of the neighborhood judges, the transfer of old and new cases has slowed the progress of some complaints.

Another tenant complaint brought a fire inspector to 3408 Parkview on Dec. 6. He found a stove and refrigerator in the hallway, out-of-date extinguishers, alarm problems and other issues, and gave Mr. Cohen 10 days to fix them.

It was two months, though, before the inspector was able to return, and four of the problems still weren't fixed. The Fire Bureau cited the owner for a lack of extinguishers, fire doors that didn't close, the absence of numbering to show rescue workers what floor they are on, and a leaking roof hatch that could serve as a chimney in a blaze.

Residents told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that there was a small fire in the building on Jan. 22. Fire inspection files don't mention it, and the bureau wasn't immediately able to determine whether it responded to that incident.

On March 19, the fire inspector was back in the building, and found that the four problems that drew citations were addressed. The inspector didn't inspect the building at large, and the fire code case was dropped.

Mr. Cohen said he interpreted that as a clean bill of health. Fire Chief Darryl E. Jones said that was a mistaken notion.

Mr. Cohen -- who operates under the business names JLB Property Group, JLB Investment Properties, Elrod Investments and Trends Capital -- also owns 331 McKee Place. That's one of two Oakland buildings the city hit Wednesday with an unusual order that all tenants move out by Monday. On Thursday, Mr. Cohen said he might fight the city's move, but yesterday he said he just wanted until month's end to fix things.

"We're going to rapidly, aggressively address the problems," he said.

Mr. Ravenstahl's administration is trying to put in place computer systems to red-flag locations that are the scenes of frequent code violations, 911 calls and complaints to the 311 help line. The city has gotten 16 calls to 311 related to problems at 3408 Parkview since late 2006.