Stressful Week – The Fire Department and House Fire
The past week was one of the most stressful weeks that I’ve had in a long time and it all stated with the sale of the house across the street. It went downhill after that. Here’s the story.
For the past 7 years the house across the street was up for sale. The previous owner went into a nursing facility and the son took it over. He didn’t want the state getting any of the money to use towards her medical costs, so he drug his feet for 7 years on selling it. He finally sold it 6 weeks ago and for a LOT less than what he wanted. I’m happy about that because he was asking outrageous amounts for the property, only to hold up any type of sale. Yeah, some people scam the system.
Anyway, A few months ago he had the property changed from residential to residential/commercial. He then dropped the price (big time) and sold the property to a hotel/motel corporation. Yeah, we’re not happy about something like that being built in the middle of our neighborhood and certainly right across the street.
To get away with NOT having to pay outrageous property demolition costs, they decided to donate the house to our local fire department. It was an older home with detached garage, but was extremely well-kept. It wasn’t the type of house that should of been destroyed. Anyway, the fire department decided to use it as a training class for firemen and scheduled it for a “controlled” burn.
Last week we had a ton of fire department personnel and township officials out here prepping it for the burn. A lot of noise, traffic and congestion. We’re not used to all of that type of action going on in the neighborhood. I didn’t appreciate having our street blocked off at times because of it.
Saturday finally arrived and at 6:00 AM all of the fire trucks (6 of them), various fire emergency vehicles, an EMS ambulance unit and over 25+ firemen arrived. They started their “control burn” about 8 AM in the morning. It was really sad to see the house being destroyed, especially when it was unnecessary and should of been sold as residential. Ugh.
The “controlled burn” lasted all day long and let me tell you…I wasn’t happy. I was completely and utterly stressed out!!! The smoke and stenchy smoke smell rolled right into our home. All day long our eyes watered & burn, our noses ran and well, it was extremely unpleasant. The first day was the worst! We kept our windows and doors shut and still…that smoky crap rolled right in. OMG….I was extremely angry!
As each day has passed the stench has gotten a little better. We went out and bought some spray products to help remove the smell and deodorize our home. It still smells, but not as badly. Now…hubby and I are both dealing with sinus infections and I swear it was set off by that damn house fire across the street (excuse my language).
I’m glad the ordeal is over…but now we’re left with trying to get the stench out of our home! I think when homes are sitting this close together, “controlled burns” should be avoided and if they can’t avoid it…someone (not us) should have to pay to have our home cleaned and deodorized as this is NOT fun to deal with. Doing this type of thing out in the country is one thing…doing it in the middle of a crowded neighborhood is another.
One thing is for sure…we will be selling our home and getting out of here within 2 years. We’re NOT going to live with a multi-story hotel/motel going up right across the street from us and turning our neighborhood into a commercialized area. Totally sucks, but we discussed it and will be selling/moving out of here with the next 2 years.
Anyway, the past week has been extremely stressful. Within this blog post you’ll find a few photographs that we snapped throughout the day.
Piece of Advice: If this ever occurs near your home…plan ahead. Make sure someone (ahead of time) is going to PAY to have your home deodorized and cleaned if it should need it afterwards. In hindsight, I should of gotten more information and had someone on the hook if this type of stenchy smell occurred. I also suggest that you vacate your home for a few days, especially if you have any type of health or breathing problems and get them to pay for it.
