sad holiday news

[shocker3218]

here is a link to a story about something that is all too common.

http://journalstar.com/articles/2004/12/22/local/doc41c902533d529445900839.txt

 

[jimwalker]

Re: sad holiday news

Very sad when this happens.Lets hope they go after this guy and let others see the penalties.Some jail time and full restitution to the family not landlord is in order.Possibly the landlord should be paying as well.

 

[shocker3218]

Re: sad holiday news

I talked to the fire inspector. He said that it was a "boyfriend of the tennant" that did the service change. Electrical inspector had a large list of violations. Very sad that they lost everything from someone doing them a "favor"

 

[petersonra]

Re: sad holiday news

did he say specifically what caused the fire to start - or are they just blaming it on unlicensed electrical work?

 

[physis]

Re: sad holiday news

Bob, that's a very important question. I've seen fire marshalls say some very stupid things that could not be substantiated.

 

[shocker3218]

Re: sad holiday news

I plan on talking to the electrical inspector today. He is a very good inspector, and I'm sure he can substantiate anything he says.

My guess is that a lot of the problems came about because of aluminum wire used in trailers, but that is only a guess. I will post more when I find out.

 

[shocker3218]

Re: sad holiday news

Talked to the inspector today. He said it was quite the mess. Joints made up in open air, looped in unprotected areas, etc. Also stated the owner was in the bedroom and opened the closet to grab something for the kid, and the smoke was starting to "escape" from the electrical panel. Got everyone out and called 911- 1/2 hour from smoke till fire was out. a total loss. Melted the busbars and breakers in the panel into an unrecognizable blob. Burnt so bad he could not even tell if the trailer had used aluminum wiring methods. I hope the guy that did the "favor" by changing the panel learned from his mistakes.

 

[charlie]

Re: sad holiday news

I hope the guy that did the "favor" by changing the panel learned from his mistakes.

That will not happen. If this guy admitted to himself that he was responsible for all that, he would not be able to live with himself. Therefore, he will be convinced that he did nothing wrong and it was the fault of something or somebody else.

 

[jimwalker]

Re: sad holiday news

As sad as this is it could have been far worse if someone had died.I don't know if i was negligent and killed someone if i would be able to still wire.Think i would hang my belt up.

 

[shocker3218]

Re: sad holiday news

jim, I agree with you 100% I guess the main reason I posted this was to give DIY and newbies something to think about before taking on work they may not be qualified to do.

 

[jimwalker]

Re: sad holiday news

I have warned many of my men that doing after hour side jobs is risky.Even if they are fine journeymen things will happen and then there is no insurance to cover it.One of them fell off a ladder and he cracked some ribs.When he found the bill was high and lost wages till he recovered he tried to say it happened on one of my jobs.Nothing says that the panel was installed wrong on this fire.Something went wrong in that closet and without some accurate info its hard to say what.But if that guy worked on it at all he will get the blame.Could be anything even just a not tight enough wire.Had it been inspected perhaps it would have been caught.