GREENCASTLE >> Nearly a year ago fire destroyed Joseph Rutledge's mobile home, but his German Shepard Bella saved his life by waking him in time for them to get out.

Now, just over a week after his son's 12th birthday, Rutledge is doing everything he can to make sure they have a new home before winter.

"I'd like to give him (a home) for Christmas and his birthday, I want to say, 'here's the house, we're all done,'" Rutledge said.

At 6:15 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2013, Bella woke Rutledge by barking incessantly in his ear. It was unusual for her to act that way, and when he realized smoke was filling his home, he understood.

He grabbed some pants, went outside with Bella, and called 911. Once outside, he realized his home was billowing smoke, and after a few hours of firefighting and containment, his mobile home was destroyed.

Rutledge said getting his new home together has been an incredibly long process, that was greatly hindered by extreme cold of last winter's Polar Vortex. Once he was finally able to get his burned mobile home hauled off his lot on Warm Spring Road, he bought a broken down mobile home at an auction held by his mobile home park.

The home needed new plumbing, new electric wiring, flooring and skirting for the trailer. So far, Rutledge has been able to finish the new plumbing. But due to financial and time restrictions, he has struggled to finish the rest or the work that would make the place "livable."

Rutledge's mother, Patty Rutledge, decided to find a way to help. She has already provided a temporary home for him, Bella and hi son Joey, but she wanted to find a way to raise awareness again.

"I reached out to people personally," Patty Rutledge said. "They had heard about Joe's fire, and I told them that he was trying to get his place together... They have been really coming together to help out as much as possible."

She didn't just do a simple call, but rather decided to knock on the doors of local businesses that might be able to help out her son. A few follow up calls later, and she was able to confirm at least two businesses that were willing to help her son, all without his knowledge.

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A year later, fire victim works to build new home

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DEAR BARRY: In some of your articles, you advise people to hire home inspectors who have errors and omissions insurance (E&O).

Ive been a home inspector for 15 years and have avoided E&O insurance for four important reasons: 1) Insurance does not prove that a home inspector is qualified; 2) Insurance covers the inspector if he is sued, but it does not insure the homebuyer against financial loss for an undisclosed defect; 3) If a home inspector does his job well, he doesnt need insurance; 4) Having insurance attracts frivolous lawsuits. What do you think about these objections? Jeff

Dear Jeff: Regarding errors and omissions insurance, there are two schools of thought among home inspectors, and both have some merit. In response to your four arguments against E&O, here are some points and counterpoints:

On two of your points, we can agree: E&O insurance is not essential to every home inspection company, and E&O coverage does not indicate whether a home inspector is truly qualified.

In fact, some of the best home inspectors work without insurance for one of the very points that you made: namely, that insurance can be a magnet for baseless lawsuits.

As most people know, we live in a litigious business climate in which attorneys name as many defendants as possible in order to get as many settlements as possible. The deep pockets provided by an insurance company can definitely attract that kind of trouble.

On the other hand, frivolous lawsuits can be filed against a home inspector, even when there is no E&O insurance. Case in point: There was an ongoing lawsuit against a termite inspector for failure to disclose damaged wood in a home.

The plaintiffs attorney decided to name the home inspector in the suit. The home inspector, by law, was not required to disclose termites, so there was no basis for the complaint against him.

Nevertheless, he had to hire an attorney and eventually settled for thousands of dollars. With E&O insurance, he would have paid the deductible and walked away from the problem.

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Exposed wire in garage ceiling should be covered

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) Trying to sell a home in BC and not having much luck?

According to a new survey, the top factors for buyers in BC saying yes to a home is the potential of a homes value to increase.

I think everybody looks at a home and they just want to feel comfortable that theyre in a neighbourhod and/or the house itself will increase in value, its the investment for them, says Todd Shyiak with Century 21.

[They want] the opportunity to make sure that theyre not gonna lose money, that theyre not going to be under water. They want to make sure that if theyre buying a home, that its going to be worth more tomorrow than it is today, he adds.

Shyiak says the number one additional feature that would persuade people in BC to buy a home is upgrades that make the home more energy efficient.

The survey found three out of ten people in BC would avoid the potential costs of a home with outdated plumbing and electrical systems.

People are willing to renovate for looks but not for repair. They dont want to have to come in to have to re-do the wiring or re-do the plumbing. They will absolutely come and in and knock out a wall, if it increases the layout but theyre not going to come in and want to replace the roof or the plumbing or electrical.

The survey says nationally, the top three factors found to make a home more attractive are layout, location, and cleanliness.

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What features tend to win over prospective home buyers in BC?

VILONIA, AR -- It's a big step for neighborhood hit hard by the April 27th tornado that devastated parts of central Arkansas. The first rebuilt home is currently under construction in the Parkwood Meadows subdivision of Vilonia.

Crews were busy Thursday putting in electrical wiring and working on the roof. A developer bought up 25 lots. He plans to build homes and put them on the market. For one of the guys working on the build its an extra special job. He's an electrician and also a volunteer firefighter -- one of the first to respond after the tornado.

"This is my home town and just to see the destruction , the life lost, it still gets to you a little bit," said Clay Heslep. "To be rebuilding the first house, it's just a testament to what this community is all about.

The developer says all the homes will be build with anchor bolts to better secure the walls to the foundation. Each will also have a safe room.

The builder says the plan from here out is to do two homes at a time. He hopes to have the first home on the market within the next three weeks.

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Tornado Flattened Neighborhood Seeing First Rebuild

Two Cobb County parents are accused of allowing their eight children to live in a home filled with sewage, trash and fecal matter, according to police.

Police were called to the familys home near Marietta on Saturday when a 2-year-old boy was found wandering alone, according to warrants seen by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A search of the Woodleigh Road home revealed the deplorable conditions, according to police.

Various unsanitary conditions were found inside the home, where children ranging in age from 2 to 13 lived, the warrants stated.

According to the warrants conditions included broken sewage piping, which leaked sewage water over or near electrical wiring, exposed electrical wiring; mildewed old food in different parts of the house; fecal matter suspected to be from the dog and small toddler child scattered throughout the home; a garage converted into a room that contained more than 50 bags of trash with a variety of insects; soiled mattresses; and the odor of sewage throughout.

Two adults in the home, Stephen Vincent Tavizon and Loni Diane Tavizon, were both arrested and charged with eight counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, all felonies, Cobb jail records showed. Stephen Tavizon was also charged with two misdemeanor counts of contributing to the deprivation of a minor, according to booking records.

Loni Tavizon is the biological mother of the eight children, while Stephen Tavizon is the biological father of two of the children, and stepfather and guardian to the other six, warrants stated.

Both Tavizons remained Wednesday afternoon in jail, where they were being held on $40,000 bond each.

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Cops: Parents let 8 kids live among sewage, trash, feces in Cobb

FARGO, N.D. -- No place to go for family of four and their three dogs following a Sunday night fire in their home. The tenants said they'd been asking the landlord to fix the old electrical wiring for more than a year. We spoke to the family and the landlord who said no one said anything to him.

"I had tears in my eyes, because I was so afraid that the dogs passed or somebody, said tenant, Van Grav.

Grav along with his family watched Fargo firefighters take control of an electrical fire in the basement of his rental home.

"This is a fire hazard waiting to happen and it happened, Grav said pointing to the electrical control box.

Grav said trying to get his landlord, Pete Sabo, to fix the laundry list of electrical problems has been a struggle. Even after multiple complaints he told us he's spent close to $2,000 out of his pocket just to replace broken fuses.

Since they've moved in nearly two years ago, they've been using extension cords to power up as only two outlets work.

Sparks flying when we plug it in, said Grav, which has previously led to two small outlet fires. An unresolved problem that he believes caused the fire. Sabo said otherwise.

He has never, ever, ever told me there was any problem with the electricity, said Landlord, Pete Sabo. If he said there was something wrong with sparking and the electric, I would be 25 times more anxious to fix the thing."

But, I spoke to Fargo City Housing authority and found out during the last inspection in July, several electrical issues were cited including hazardous wiring.

"All I'm asking for is some help, Grav told us.

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Fargo family believes a fire in their home could have been prevented

From the outside, the little white house looked abandoned. Set back from the quiet residential road and surrounded by towering trees, the place was the picture of neglect, with crooked front steps, a broken railing and a door that had been hung upside down and backward.

Inside lived three elderly brothers who, for decades, kept to themselves and rarely saw a visitor. Then, one day last November, a county building inspector pulled up in the gravel driveway. He gently explained that the brothers would have to bring their property up to code or the home could be condemned, and the brothers would be put out.

Their roof leaked, and wind blew through holes in the walls. More than a dozen cats roamed the yard, which was scattered with piles of junk. Still, it was home the only one the brothers had ever known. They could remember how their father, an immigrant from Italy, used to sing and play piano in the front room. One of his favorites was "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'."

Oh, what a beautiful mornin',

Oh, what a beautiful day,

I've got a wonderful feelin',

Everything's going my way.

"Year after year, we'd listen to him practice and sing," said Ray Sabec, 67, the youngest brother. "I am very sentimental. To me, everything is feeling and memory.

"That music is still there in the house."

Indeed, when the brothers looked at their dilapidated home, they could remember how it used to be.

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New Lenox community rebuilds brothers' home

Electricity "The Spark Of Life" Your home electrical system provides, energy to heat or cool your home, cook meals, drive power tools and perform many other useful functions. Residential lighting provides comfort and security, on the darkest of nights. Used safely and wisely, electricity will continue to enrich our lives...

Welcome to Sparkie's Home Wiring 101. A easy to follow, electrical wiring resource, for the everyday "Do It Yourself'er" and weekend project dominator alike. Covering basic electrical concepts, practices and DIY projects. And by breaking projects down, into step by step tutorials, you too can wire that switch.....and MORE!

Electrical Basics ~ How Does A Switch Work? The "switch", we use them daily, to turn on and off lights or dispose of last night's dinner. A simple, yet powerful device, capable of controlling any situation, with just the flip of a switch....

Electrical Basics ~ Residential Wiring Diagrams... Keeping in mind that the "source" is both, the startingpointand the return point of an electrical circuit, you can use that knowledge to map any wiring situation. Below, we'll go through the more common wiring scenarios that a homeowner may run into...

Electrical Basics ~The GFCI : Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter The Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter or GFCI, senses any leakage or loss of current, on a electrical circuit, that may be flowing through a person. When the GFCI detects a loss, it ...

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Home Wiring 101~ Electrical Basics For Homeowners ~

Most homes built before 1950 or so were wired using a system called "knob-and-tube." K&T wiring is a two-wire system (there is no ground wire); the wires run through porcelain tubes for protection wherethey pass through wood framing pieces, and are supported by porcelain knobs along their length to prevent heat build-up.

K&T wiring is common in older Northeast Ohio communities. You can usually spot the knobs and tubes in a basement ceiling or unfinished attic. Left alone, K&T wiring is extremely safe, according to most electricians. Problems can occur when the system is altered by such things as:

What if you own a home with knob-and-tube wiring? Certainly, you don't have to rewire your home immediately. But, be aware that you may encounter problems down the line if you want to change insurance carriers, or when you sell your home. It's not a bad idea to have your system checked by a licensed electrician to ensure that everything is safe, and to evaluate whether replacingyour K&T wiring with a more modern system might be worth the cost.

There is a lot of good informationavailable online. Check out articles by theInternational Association of Certified Home Inspectors andold house web.

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Knob & tube wiring can make getting insurance difficult: The Weekly Fix

CHICAGO (WLS) --

These large open boxes were set up for the I-Team by the Alsip Fire Department. The one on the right is full of older or antique furniture, made of cotton, wool and down.

The room on the left is a typical a home with newer, synthetic furniture made with chemicals like polyurethane and hydro-carbons.

Firefighters and other safety experts lit both rooms at the same time using a candle. In just one minute and thirty seconds, flames raged through the newer furnishings in what firefighters call a "flashover."

The old furniture burned slowly. It takes more than 13 minutes to "flashover."

"The products now-a-days are all synthetic," says Thomas Styczynski, Fire Chief Village of Alsip. "They are hydrocarbons, a solid form of gasoline if you will. They will ignite quicker, they give off different gasses. Besides carbon monoxide, they give off cyanide gases, all those which are toxic to humans."

And it's not just furniture causing faster fires. Research at Underwriter Laboratories in Northbrook has shown that the modern construction materials can put you at a higher risk.

"Lightweight construction uses laminated beams and trusses and under normal circumstances these are great," says contractor and TV show host Ron Hazelton. "But in fire they collapse much sooner than conventional wood."

Hazelton showed the I-Team two examples. The bigger piece of wood is solid and used in older construction. The other is many pieces of wood compressed together, with glue, found in newer homes.

"What happens with solid wood is it begins to burn from the outside in, so the outside may char but the interior of it the structural integrity is there so it tends to fail slowly and you know when it is going to go," Hazleton says. "This burns hotter and more quickly, and when it fails, it fails almost instantaneously."

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Faster Fires: Why your home could burn 8x faster