House should be condemned

[Minuteman]

Everyone was out today, so I went out myself on hopefully our last FEMA "ice storm damaged" home. The storm was 12/9/07

The man was in his 70's and seemed to be in good health, but not all there. He had no electricity since the storm. He said that his water has been frozen and he is living in the van in the picture. He said that the neighbor lady called the FEMA hotline and gave him a warm meal on Christmas.

To me, the house was unfit to live in and unsafe to restore power to. So I called the City permit desk and told them as much, I then called the PoCo and told them that the power line was hot and on the ground and needed attention. Also I called the health department.

The pictures really don't do this justice. Trust me, it was nasty. The houses on either side had old fire damage. There was weeds, tons of trash, and junk on all 3 properties, but the houses down the street were in fair condition and one was nice.

 

[mdshunk]

Unfit to live in by who's standards? The pioneers suffered in worse, I feel sure. It's not a place that I'd be interested in living in, but I support the man's right to live there if he wants to.

 

[GilbeSpark]

Come on, it's only him there by himself. It's not like he's got to share the bathroom!

What's worse, living in the house or the van?

 

[GilbeSpark]

It is his choice to live wherever he wants, but it is not his right to have electricity. The place looks pretty unsafe, and IMO power should be restored on the contingency of a safety inspection of the wiring.

 

[Minuteman]

Unfit to live in by who's standards? The pioneers suffered in worse, I feel sure. It's not a place that I'd be interested in living in, but I support the man's right to live there if he wants to.

I support his rights too Marc, but I cannot in good conscience repair the electrical service to the property.

 

[ryan_618]

Do you support the person being able to invite people to his house that could be injured?

 

[mdshunk]

Do you support the person being able to invite people to his house that could be injured?

Yes, absolutely. It's their choice to go in there or not. The fact that any building exists is not a warranty on the part of the local building officials that the structure is perfectly safe and free from defect. I certainly wouldn't have called the health department or the building department. I agree that it doesn't look like electrical service should be provided at the moment because of the liability involved in doing so. There is no liability in letting everything exactly as it is at this particular moment.

 

[ryan_618]

That house gets the "unlawful to enter" sign from me, and I don't hang that sign very often.

 

[Minuteman]

I certainly wouldn't have called the health department or the building department... There is no liability in letting everything exactly as it is at this particular moment.

Nope, no liability. But the current temp is 29* with winds at 21 mph. He has not had a hot meal since Christmas. No heat/ hot water since December 9th.

 

[ryan_618]

I think you did the right thing.

 

[mdshunk]

That house gets the "unlawful to enter" sign from me, and I don't hang that sign very often.

Then you'd have to hang a lot of those signs in Amish country. Other than what might be structural issues with that shack, they don't live much different.

 

[ryan_618]

Other than what might be structural issues with that shack...

Those issues are sort of important, aren't they?

 

[mdshunk]

Those issues are sort of important, aren't they?

I can't tell by looking from the outside, and neither could you.

 

[Minuteman]

I can't tell by looking from the outside, and neither could you.

That's okay... I'm sure an inspector will look at it soon.

 

[peter d]

I'm fairly certain the power company here would not reconnect power to a building like that, because they would not get the "OK" from the electrical inspector until all the electrical issues are resolved.

 

[satcom]

The meter pan needs some duct tape, other then that, it looks like the typical home we will be seeing, if more manufacturing jobs keep leaving.

 

[Minuteman]

I'm fairly certain the power company here would not reconnect power to a building like that, because they would not get the "OK" from the electrical inspector until all the electrical issues are resolved.

I would have been the one to restore power. I have the authority to pick up the downed line, and reconnect it to the service, the power line was hot. After I would have reconnected it, the AHJ would send an inspector to look at the meter. PoCo would re seal it when they read the meter.

Did you will notice, the meter had several inches of Ice in it?

 

[76nemo]

That house gets the "unlawful to enter" sign from me, and I don't hang that sign very often.

Ahhh, I agree, yet, we do not all live in a high rise. They may just seek the same solitude as I???? These installations are no different than an unknowing smoker that gets lung cancer. It's quite awful to see a fire death of the sort.

 

[peter d]

I would have been the one to restore power. I have the authority to pick up the downed line, and reconnect it to the service, the power line was hot.

Interesting. That's definitely a different poco practice. The poco here would never let us touch their stuff. They own the drop and they are responsible for reattaching it.

 

[Minuteman]

On most of the early ice damaged homes, we picked up the line and restored the power. Then later, the poco started coming through and re-hung the wire to an insulated knob, waiting for an electrician to make repairs and reconnect.

We also disconnect and reconnect for ourselves on panel upgrades.