|
||||
Two Dead In Long Beach "Pack Rat" House Fire by Ryan ZumMallen | Archive | 03.08.10 |
+ 8:05am | Two people died in a Long Beach house fire early this morning, when pack rat conditions kept an otherwise controllable fire from being extinguished by firefighters. align="left">The Long Beach Fire Department responded to a call of smoke investigation at around 2:40am this morning, according to LBFD spokesperson Joshua Johnson. A station is located very nearby and firefighters arrived quickly to see flames emerging from both sides of the house. The fire was manageable but the amount of debris inside the house kept firefighters from entering to fully extinguish the blaze.An elderly male and an elderly female were found deceased in the home at 5th & Grand. The cause of death has not yet been determined, and the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.  ADVERTISEMENTJohnson said that the house was filled with loose papers, books and extra furniture that prevented firefighters from gaining necessary access.
Comments
Click Here to Join the Discussion on this Story
24 Comments so far.
John M. Fentis It is indeed sad to see these kinds of incidents. Packrats often times suffer from psychological disorders that impair their ability to discard waste. They develop a fear that they might need something so, in an effort to combat that fear, they keep everything. During my time as a prosecutor, I handled several of these types of code enforcement cases, and they usually involved elderly people whose families had, for one reason or another, abandoned them to their loneliness. It doesn't lesson the danger as we can see by the story, nor does it serve as a defense to a prosecution, but this serves as an example of why code enforcement is just as important as enforcement of general misdemeanor crimes. I make no secret of my support of Doug Haubert in the City Prosecutor race. These are the types of cases that he takes very seriously as he has been engaged in these types of prosecutions for years. My sympathy to the families of the deceased couple and yet another reminder of the seriousness of the problem and the need to investigate the existence of dwellings such as these so as to prevent more serious fires. Walt Florie If one knows of a similar residence in like condition, where does one report this ? Its not only dangerous to the resident but to the homes surrounding this property. What can be done??? Bianca John M. Fentis, you took the opportunity to turn a sad situation into a political one. Erika Jewell, TCC Hi Walt, to answer your question, there is a Hoarding Task Force in Long Beach through the Health Department. For the elderly there is also Adult Protective Services. Politics are not dead Mr Fentis, seeing that this blog spot is an area you saw to take advantage of about the death of two hoarders to push a political candidate makes me think that if this is the type of endorsement he seeks to validate his position, on your act alone I would not vote for him. Congratulations on trying to back peddle but your transparent attempt to show sympathy was pathetic and an embarrassment to Doug Haubert. You owe him and the deceased family members an apology. Next time think before you blog. This was a double tragedy. Caller I have called to inquire about hoarders and those living in pack rat conditions only to be told there is nothing the city will do about them. The fire department directed me to the Los Angeles Task Force who does NOTHING about the situations but talk about them. Funds are ALWAYS the issue. I wonder how many have to lose homes or even more die before something is done. DMR Please - they were in their early 70's -----which is NOT ELDERLY ! Tril They were ELDERLY enough to develop a long history of mental illness, die and burn their house down. So yes they were indeed ELDERLY. Active Smoke Detectors I have found that a early warning that calls directly to the fire department would have saved these lives. I got my grandmother a smoke and CO2 detection that notify s a central command center who direct dials into fire directly once smoke has been detected. They will also call out to the occupants in the home through a loud speaker to exit the home and the department in on its way. This way if it is burnt toast they will cancel the fire department, before the boots are on. She already had occasion for it to be activated once and thanks to the system a small pan fire stayed a pan fire. Protecting our seniors regardless of their mental state is so important. My Grandma system is through Life Alert. 800.336.4415 EXT 125 and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to protect themselves and the home. DMR ~ DNR DMR life is just that at any age, and with your comment I am sure you have a (Do Not Resuscitate) on your living trust. John M. Fentis My sincere apologies to any and all who were offended by my comments. I merely meant to point out that cutting programs as Caller points out is not the appropriate way to address this type of situation. I apologize for turning this into a political comment. I do not apologize for my support of Mr. Haubert. I merely meant to point out that responding to budget cuts by cutting back on inspections and other resources designed to discover dangers to public safety is not a very enlightened approach. Code enforcement is oft times underplayed as real enforcement. This is an example of why it is very important. Again, my apologies and I'm very grateful that the fire did not spread to other locations teacher I saw nothing at all wrong with John M. Fentis's comment. He actually explained things very well, which I appreciate. "Lessen" being spelled ""lesson" did nothing to detract from the message. Two Cents @Fentis You have no idea what the city is going through with its budget problems to make any assumptions about where resources can be spent. That is the city council's job. So address it with them and not at the current City Prosecutor. You seem to think that your favorite person can rescue the city from all of its code violation woes, but you don't know if the hoarders' address had been brought to the attention of code enforcement or not. Stop misleading the people on this blog. People died and you continue to endorse a person who hasn't prosecuted a case in LB in years. Get over it and move on . . . please. Dave Hall It's good to see the discussion on this tragic event. As a teacher, I know many pack rats including myself who just can't part with books, lessons and various stacks of papers that seem to follow us around. I can also relate to those of us who have kept or inherited memories of family members. It's tough to let go of so many treasured things. But it has to be done. I hope the two who died rest in peace. Thanks to the fire fighters who did their best to rescue the victims. Stop Junk Mail Part of the blame goes to the HUGE amount of junk mail we get daily. I know people that save it until they read it because they are afraid that if they throw it away without reading it they might be throwing away something important. It's ridiculous to get so much trash junk mail that just goes back in the trash or for some and probably very few, recycle. After a while their homes are packed with magazines and junk mail because it hasn't been read yet. 4 houses away My thanks to the fire department for their quick responce and professional manner. Great Pacific Garbage Pat Hats off to LBFD for keeping the fire contained. The loss of two, twenty,two hundred, two thousand, two million, is all about disposal and the proper attribute. The mental state of individuals who cannot dispose of trash properly is all in the same vein. Just look at the Island of Trash twice the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean. Our great long beach after a rain storm... Plastic trash everywhere. The hoarder mentality is symptom of our society almost exclusively and we have the opposite hard at work with everything being disposable. The word hoarder is not even used in other parts of the English Speaking world. It is an American term and this incident has broader implications not just an inaccessible house fire who took lives. It is a mirror we all need to peer into. one of his students Can you at least hold your assumptions until more information is available? This man was a talented, well-known artist and long-time, very well-liked and popular college art professor. Don't assume mental illness. He was an extremely busy and productive artist and teacher and I speak for all his students in honoring his memory. neighbor It saddens me that people are not taking the time to pray for the people who lost their lives and their families. I live a few places away from this house and watched in HORROR as it burned. It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen close up. These houses are old, made of pure wood inside (in the historic district of belmont heights). I've been reading a lot about the man who lived there and how respected and admired he was by his students. It saddens me that I have to learn all this after he is passed away so tragically. Get off the "pack rat" issue and realize that this REALLY happened to REAL LIVE people... and it was AWFUL! RIP neighbors... : ( Nancy If you are concerned about someone who is elderly or who is a compromised adult, who is a "pack rat", please call Adult Protective Services at your local Dept. of Social Services. The mandate of APS is to assess for any mental disorder and provide intervention, if necessary. If the person is not elderly and is hoarding, esp. animals, the State of CA has prosecuted under statutes on animal abuse. As a community member, I made such a report of an elderly person who received assistance, and, as a mental health professional who has treated OCD (hoarding goes hand in hand), working with a family who used the statutes about animal abuse provided the necessary intervention for someone to get treatment. Renee I am so sorry for this tragic loss. I want to know what happened to the family pets. I have heard conflicting reports. First animals survived, dog and cat. Second only dog survived. HAS ANYONE TAKEN THIS DOG INTO THEIR HOME? I have a dog that I adore and who has been with me for 11 years, what would happen to her if something happened to me. WHERE ARE THE ANIMALS AND ARE THEY BEING CARED FOR. I WILL TAKE THE DOG IF IT IS AT A SHELTER. PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY. THANK YOU!!! Community Preservation Of It is sad to see the events that occurred in Long Beach. I agree 100% with Mr. Fentis. As I enforce this type of conditions, legally various agencies are limited to enforcing nuisances in public view not inside the home. Various agencies will not touch the lifestyle choices one chooses to engage in unless it is an imminent hazard. Many hoarders are closet hoarders or unwilling to cooperate. It is sad to deal with these types of cases because sometime children get removed from these types of conditions and may have to prosecute these individuals. Code Enforcement is a viable tool that often coordinate with hoarding task forces however if a hoarder does not want help they will not accept change. I personally feel for the couple that lost their lives and hope that Code Enforcement gets better tools or funding to fight these kinds of situations. John M. Fentis @two cents. I am sorry that my commentary makes you so irritated. I know more about the budget in Long Beach than you think that I do and I further believe that cutting whole programs is not the answer to the budgetary woes of the city. Plainly, the answer lies in the willingness of government to engage in performance audits designed to reveal what parts of a program are working and what parts are not. As for my endorsement of Doug Haubert, he has prosecuted significantly more cases to verdict as a prosecutor than Mr. O'Reilly has. In fact, the only conviction that Mr. O'Reilly has obtained, to my knowledge, was the prosecution of Jay Beeler of the Beachcomber for the heinous crime of obstruction of a peace officer in the course of his duties. Hardly a hallmark in the annals of prosecution lore. Again, my apologies to those who saw my remarks to this article as a political opportunity and my sincere condolences to the families of the deceased for their loss. And, finally, I would encourage two cents to consider some anger management therapy A Student I was a long-time art student of the gentleman who lost his life in this fire. It is a terrible, horrible tradgedy, he was a very talented man, with a lot of art work and art supplies to show for it. Please do not assume he was a pack rat. But I too am concerned about his pets, I know he usually had more than one dog at a time. I sure hope his sister was able to take the survivors in, they were very important to him. He will be GREATLY missed!!
Archive
LBPOST.com Managing Editor Ryan ZumMallen keeps up on all the current and breaking Long Beach news.
Ryan ZumMallen has served as the managing editor of the LBPOST.com since 2007. He graduated from CSULB with a degree in Print Journalism in 2008 and is a member of the 2009 class of Leadership Long Beach. You can find him on various basketball courts around the city.
Ryan's Community
 
Ryan's Archives
Show All Archives |
||||
| About Us | Contact Us | Policies | ||||
