Blaze victim was a 'recluse'
Officials working to identify man known only as 'Abu,' thought to live at burned-out shop
Apr 14, 2008 04:30 AM

Collection of stories about Collyer Mansion Conditions: Firefighter blog

Published Monday  |  March 3, 2008
Hoarding could take fatal turn, firefighters say
BY RHONDA STANSBERRY
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER...

Two Firefighters Injured Battling Queens House Fire

POSTED: 9:52 am EST February 26, 2008

Mother tried to save her kids
By Russ Krebs/Tribune StaffTuesday, Feb 26, 2008

Quotes from article...

Fire crew rescues woman, 7 pets
Cat perishes in cluttered, barred Visalia home
BY HILLARY MEEKS
hmeeks@visalia.gannett.com

Chairs, a broken refrigerator and other items filled the woman's garage from top to bottom — and Battalion Chief Doyle Sewell said the scene wasn't much different inside the house. This, along with metal bars on the front door, made it more difficult for the woman to escape the smoke and flames. It also made it hard for firefighters to reach her, he said.

When she attempted to get out the front door, she slipped and fell in the hallway, where she was later found unconscious, Hughes said.

Hampton said the woman was a known recluse, and tended to hoard — evident by the stacks of things in her garage...

2 Die in Fire; Door Nailed Shut
Thursday, January 03, 2008

By JIM FITZGERALD, Associated Press Writer


WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The elderly couple's windows were barred, and their front door was nailed shut, apparently because the two feared for their safety. Inside, their home was filled with 5-foot-tall heaps of debris.

The clutter and makeshift security measures turned the home into a death trap Wednesday when a fast-moving fire killed them both, officials said.

Fire in Eagle Rock, CA at "Packrats" home

Two Articles re:
Cedarhurst blaze kills couple
BY COLLIN NASH
collin.nash@ newsday.com

Newsday
May 12, 2007, 8:44 PM EDTe

"exorbitant amount of combustible material inside the house" was likely the source of the blast, Nassau County police Sgt. Anthony Repalone said.

Bill would offer loans to install fire sprinklers

Small care homes are not required to have devices By Michael Gardner
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE April 8, 2007

 

 

LA Residents looking for resources:
Hoarding is a serious problem that can effect those in any segment of our society. Thankfully, there are factors that can often be addressed through the combined effort of municipal employees (such as those working in LAFD Fire Marshal's Office) and Mental Health Professionals.

City of Los Angeles residents can contact the Legal Liaison Unit easily and toll-free through 3-1-1, or should they wish to call directly:(213) 978-3560.

Additionally, those also within the *County* of Los Angeles can call the Department of Mental Health at (800) 854-7771, Adult Protective Services at (877)477-3646, or 211-LA (aka Infoline) by dialing 2-1-1 or (800) 339-6993 at any hour for personal assistance. Source.

July 5, 2006

A "Collyer Mansion" Situation

 

1994 - Dennis started a media awareness campaign in an attempt to bring the issues into the public view. With public awareness came more and more research into the Hoarding Disorder....

During the fire fight, firefighters encountered severe pack-rat conditions which made operating within the structure extremely difficult.

The sole occupant, an 83 year-old female, was using both units, upstairs and downstairs, to store head high piles of objects and materials including stacks of newspapers over 50 years old. Firefighters had to crawl and navigate their way into the units to conduct search and rescue operations as well as locate the seat of the fire....

Elizabeth writes "

[The homeowner] got out safely, but firefighters had trouble getting in. Crews quickly learned the home was filled with pile after pile of books, magazines and clothes even in the hallways, which made it tough to get to the fire in the attic from inside.

"

Elizabeth writes "

The Final Chapter: George Butcher's books and papers fill his life...
but municipal officials say it's dangerous hoarding

"

Elizabeth writes "

Los Angeles Fire Dept. News and Information (Fire in duplex, 1/16/07)

During the fire fight, firefighters encountered severe pack-rat conditions which made operating within the structure extremely difficult. ...

"

Clutter in house hampers firefighters

The blaze caused $55,000 damage to a two-story wood frame house at 1858 Saint Paul Street. It took two hours to extinguish the flames after the fire was reported about 9:30 a.m. Fire officials say the blaze started in the basement where stacks of wood and newspaper were stored. The material also filled much of the first floor. The cause of the fire is under investigation. No one was home. No injuries were reported.

Stockpiling Run Rampant
By Timothy Dwyer

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Over the course of 17 years, a married couple living in a mid-unit, three-bedroom, three-story townhouse in Burke had hoarded so much stuff that their home was overflowing. The weight of the debris was threatening to cause the floors to cave in.

Beach aims to help hoarders get out from under piles of problems

By SUSAN E. WHITE, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 23, 2006

VIRGINIA BEACH - Fire Battalion Chief David Hutcheson still recalls the cases in fairly vivid detail.

An elderly couple died when the home caught fire. An investigation showed the cause was an overloaded extension cord, but fire officials say the home's overload of contents fueled the fire's intensity...

"It definitely was a contributing factor to their death," Hutcheson said.

These cases all involved hoarders - people who hold on to items that they think are invaluable....

Newspapers may have fueled fire

BEN KENDALL
23 September 2006 06:45

A fire which claimed the life of an elderly widow may have been fuelled by piles of old newspapers hoarded inside the house, a coroner's inquest heard yesterday.

Daphne Williamson, 69, died of smoke inhalation when the blaze engulfed her home at Newton Road, Hainford, near Norwich, at about 1.30pm on February 8. Neighbours had alerted the fire service after seeing flames explode through a side window.

Investigators believe Mrs Williamson died before the fire reached its peak...

Clean up, cut your fire risk

BY KRISTY GRANT
Albury fire station commander, Greg Lynch, with a selection of some of the chemicals that can prove hazardous in the home and garage.
Picture: PETER MERKESTEYN

BORDER residents are being asked by the fire brigade to “spring clean” their homes and sheds to help prevent fires.
Homeowners should clear clutter, check power sources and lock away chemicals as part of their annual spring cleaning.

The Spring Clean for a Safer Home campaign was launched this week and aims to increase awareness about the link between good housekeeping and fire prevention.

Albury fire station commander Greg Lynch said a blaze in the home could have devastating effects on residents putting lives at risk and causing serious damage...

Aug. 31, 2006, 1:21AM
Clutter blamed in fatal home fire
HFD says piles of paper helped the blaze quickly spread, hindering a woman's rescue

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By MIKE GLENN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Family members had regularly offered to help make order out of the chaos of books, magazines and papers that filled Marilyn Berzeny's modest northwest Houston home.

But the 64-year-old woman always refused any assistance, they said. Relatives now believe that resistance may have cost the woman her life early Wednesday when a fast-moving fire burned through the clutter she refused to move.

"I'm so mad at myself. I should have just done it anyway," said a tearful Elaine Dubec, the victim's daughter. "I was trying to respect her and not touch her stuff."

The blaze was reported about 4 a.m. at Berzeny's home in the 2200 block of Hialeah. Stacks of paper and other debris — at least waist-high throughout the home — hindered firefighters' efforts to rescue the victim, the Houston Fire Department said.

"They tried to go in the front door, encountered (the debris), and went in the back door," HFD District Chief Tommy Dowdy said. "That's where they found her — just inside the back door."

Firefighters crawled over piles of books and magazines to locate the narrow pathways that were the only means to navigate through the house.

The stacks of books and magazines quickly ignited as the flames raced through the home, adding to the deadly conflagration. "There were just piles of stuff. It burns faster and makes more smoke," Dowdy said. "Between the darkness and the smoke, it makes it real difficult to find those paths."

Berzeny apparently tried to escape but was overcome by the thick, choking clouds. Paramedics struggled to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at Memorial Hermann Hospital. Relatives said she had burns over 30 percent of her body.

"I just feel terrible. I didn't even know she was at home," said neighbor Tony Cirillo, who called Berzeny "a nice lady who didn't bother anybody."

Billy Boy, the victim's beloved German shepherd, apparently tried to make his way inside the home when the fire broke out, family members said. The dog suffered some minor burns and is being cared for by a neighbor.
(Read more....)

mike.glenn@chron.com

At the lethal fire in Eldersburg where Richard Hamilton Stewart, 78, and his son Richard Jr., 51, died in the early morning of July 23, firefighters had trouble searching for the men because of the amount of clutter in the house.

Sykesville firefighters said they also had trouble getting into the same home last winter when they went on a medical call for another family member.  

Hoarding is a recognized obsessive/compulsive disorder and to help people understand it better, Gail Jones, Carroll County Bureau of Aging's Guardianship Program Coordinator, has been making the rounds at senior centers to talk about the problem.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/carroll/bal-ca.hoarding13aug13,0,3124183.story?coll=bal-local-carroll

Fort Wayne Home Burns to the Ground

(Fort Wayne - WANE) Firefighters thought they'd extinguished a house fire Saturday afternoon at 5508 Wapiti Drive, but early Sunday, the fire re-ignited, and burned the home to the ground.

From Firehouse.com/Firefighters Discussion Forums

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July 5, 2006 -- On the West Coast, some firefighters call it a "Habitrail house." In the Midwest, it is often a "packer house." In parts of Nevada, it is a "multiple waiting to happen," meaning a multiple-alarm fire. But in New York City, and along much of the East Coast, a dwelling jammed rafter-high with junk is referred to by rescue personnel, with dismay and no small degree of respect, as a "Collyers' Mansion."
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A Colliers Mansion is a Dwelling (Private Dwelling, Apartment etc.) That is filled with filth, Trash and General Refuse. It is common to find hermits and Junk Collectors with these conditions in thier places of residence.
The term was coined after two brothers who came from a wealthy family in Harlem (Harlem was a wealthy neighborhood in the Late 1880s to early 1900s) Inherited the Brownstone from their parents. They were recluces. One of the Brothers was blind and the other cared for him. Only leaving at night the brother would leave to gather only essentials and return home.
Well Since both of the Colliers Brothers were very suspicious of the outside world the one who left created booby traps in the pathways created by reams of papers and Trash.
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Several years ago, I had a couple of incidents in a house like that. I've been to many homes of pack-rats, but this one takes the cake. First incident, the elderly female occupant fell and could not get up. The woman from "Meals on Wheels" heard her when she went to deliver her food and called 911. I entered through the back door and had a couple of fishing poles that were over the door fall on me and saw piles of junk everwhere. She was easy to find, there were only a few paths in the house through all the debris. She was alert, lucid, not injured and refused all medical assistance. (read more of what they are saying at:http://tinyurl.com/e72ht)

July 03, 2006
Twelve firefighters and five building resident were injured when a three-alarm blaze broke out inside an apartment in Queens Monday afternoon.

The FDNY says the blaze broke out early this afternoon in the second floor apartment of a six-story building in Sunnyside. According to investigators, the apartment was littered with trash and debris.

“As soon as our first units got there they tried to open the door and they couldn’t get it open because of all the debris that was behind the door,” said FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief John Acerno. “There was debris from the floor to the ceiling throughout the entire department.”...

More than 60 firefighters respond to Eldersburg house fire

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A "Collyer Mansion" Situation
Gothamist is a website about New York. More
Editor: Jen Chung Publisher: Jake Dobkin

On Monday, there was a terrible three-alarm fire in a Queens apartment that seriously injured its tenant, Vycheslav Nekrasov. Nekrasov's apartment was so full of odds and ends (a super called it "a warehouse of junk") that firefighters weren't able to immediately open the door, so they cut a hole from the upstairs apartment floor to get in. Nekrasov's neighbors had complained about the smell coming from the apartment ("like a dead body") repeatedly and apparently the Health Department was supposed to visit today! Instead, a couple residents and firefithers were injured and the apartment is burned out, with debris falling into another neighboring apartment whose wall was cut down to get to the fire...