JEFFERSON COUNTY For weeks, residents of the Brookside Mobile Home Park worried theyd be homeless.

The fear began when letters from the Northeast Public Sewer District showed up in early February at the park near Fenton.

Unfortunately, the owner of Brookside Mobile Home Park has not been paying the bill for sanitary sewer service, and the district has been making attempts to collect the balance due without success, the letter read. This leaves the district with no choice but to terminate service to the park. Without sanitary sewer service, Jefferson County could declare the park unfit for occupancy and the park could not be occupied.

The unpaid bill is more than $90,000.

The deadline to pay before cutting off service to the roughly 200 homes initially was Monday, but has been pushed back to April 10.

Resident Edward Sockbeson didnt know what to do. He and his wife Cindy had dutifully paid their monthly $340 pad rent, which was supposed to cover sewer, water and trash, he said.

Their mobile home, which they bought about nine years ago for $4,000, is not fit to move. And they didnt have anywhere to take it anyway.

We were trying to figure out where wed have to go and find a place, and we dont have the money to put down for first months rent, said Edward Sockbeson, 57.

On Monday, Cindy Sockbeson and four other Brookside residents filed suit against Jeffco Holdings, owner of the park. They are represented by John Ammann, a St. Louis University law professor who directs the schools legal clinic.

Ammann and students Ben Tiller and Angela Kunz appeared before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Gary Kramer on Thursday. They asked him to order that starting next month, rent checks are paid to Public Administrator Steve Farmers office, which will then pay the bills their rent is supposed to cover. Bob Hembrock, the sewer districts executive director, and Bob Sweeney, the districts attorney, were there too and had no objections to the plan, which Kramer approved.

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Unpaid sewer bills put mobile home residents on edge

LACEY'S SPRING, Alabama - Morgan County authorities followed a trail of debris left when a mobile home was vandalized and found a suspect in the burglary of a central heat and air conditioning unit, electrical wiring and aluminum siding, Sheriff Ana Franklin said.

Daniel Chace Goodner, 21, of 108 Dudley Road in Lacey's Spring was arrested and charged with third-degree burglary. He remains in Morgan County Jail, where he is being held on $2,500 bond, Franklin said.

The sheriff said the owner of the unoccupied mobile home went to check the property on Skyview Drive on Wednesday.

"She found that someone had taken the central heat and central air unit, stripped electrical wiring from the walls and removed aluminum siding from the outside of the mobile home," Franklin said. "A patrol deputy responded to take the report, and noticed there was a trail of debris leading from the vandalized mobile home to another location. Neighbors reported that they remembered seeing a local man in the area wearing work gloves."

An investigator was called to the scene and officers were able to track the debris left from stripping the mobile home to Goodner's home, where they found the property stolen from the mobile home in plain view.

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Trail of debris left after home stripped of wiring, siding leads Morgan County deputies to suspect

Authorities seized more than 500 marijuana plants this week from a Los Banos home believed to be connected to a large drug trafficking enterprise.

This was an organized, highly sophisticated operation, Los Banos police Cmdr. Jason Hedden said. Investigators found numerous ballast systems and indoor lights inside the home.

No arrests were made Thursday when the Merced County Multi-Agency Narcotics Task Force raided a home in the 700 block of Friguglietti Avenue, though multiple suspects are wanted in connection with the growing operation. Suspect descriptions were not available Friday.

There was no one at the home when the search warrant was served, Hedden said.

Agents seized about 520 marijuana plants and about 4 pounds of trimmed marijuana buds, with an estimated street value of about $1.7 million, Merced County Sheriffs Deputy Ray Framstad said.

This is a neighborhood with a lot of young children, little kids that play in their yards, Framstad said. This grow created a significant danger in the neighborhood of potential robberies or violence.

Framstad said the complicated electrical wiring involved a large amount of utility theft and created a serious fire hazard.

All the electricity they pulled to operate the lights had melted underground electrical wires, he said.

Framstad said the case was developed by the task force with Los Banos police Officer Marcelino Cortez as lead investigator, but said he could not elaborate on what initiated the case. Efforts to reach the task force directly were unsuccessful Friday.

The Los Banos Police Department and the Merced County Sheriffs Department assisted with the raid.

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500 pot plants seized from Los Banos home

A March 1 fire at Bennie Smith Funeral Home in Millsboro was accidental, the state fire marshal says.

The Delaware State Fire Marshal's office determined the fire started in the first-floor ceiling and was caused by an electrical malfunction in branch circuit wiring, said Chief Deputy State Fire MarshalHarry R. Miller.

The total damage was estimated at $350,000, he said.

The Millsboro Volunteer Fire Co. responded to a building fire on Washington Street. Upon arrival, heavy smoke was showing from the second floor and attic of the funeral home, which was built in the late 1800s, according to the Millsboro Volunteer Fire Co. website. Crews worked for several hours to extinguish the fire, which had traveled throughout the balloon construction structure.

Millsboro was assisted by the Georgetown, Dagsboro, Gumboro, Frankford, and Indian River fire companies. The Roxana Fire Company also responded with its rehab unit.

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Millsboro funeral home fire ruled accidental

Twin Falls, Idaho ( KMVT-TV / KSVT-TV ) - An attic fire has displaced a family from their home at 144 Sidney Street off of Washington Street South. Twin Falls Fire Department Battalion Chief Ron Aguirre say they were called to the home around 3:30 pm Tuesday afternoon on the report that smoke was coming out of an attic. It took firefighters some time to find out what was causing the fire. Finally firefighters found some old knob and tube wiring that had short circuited. There is no other reason for the wiring failure other than age. Knob and Tube wiring was used in homes as late as the 1930s according to Wikipedia. The Battalion Chief said some ceiling had to be pulled down. Then the fire department removed all of the insulation in the attic. That's when they discovered what he calls heavy damage to the roof structure. There was also some water damage to the approximate 1900-square foot home.

The Battalion chief said that if you own a home with the old knob and tube wiring make sure you have a professional electrician perform any upgrades. He added for any home or business owner that if a breaker trips continually, to leave it off and call a professional to check out the problem.

Three fire engines and a command unit responded to the scene.

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Twin Falls House Fire Displaces Family

A weekend fire that heavily damaged a Sussex County funeral home was caused by an electrical malfunction, state fire officials said Wednesday.

The fire began at 1:25 p.m. Saturday at the Bennie Smith Funeral Home, a former residence built in the late 1800s in the 200 block of S. Washington St. in Millsboro.

Crews from the Millsboro Volunteer Fire Co. arrived to find heavy smoke showing from the second floor and attic, as the fire traveled throughout the structure.

Millsboro crews and six other fire companies worked for several hours to put out the blaze, Fire Chief Matthew Warrington said Wednesday.

The resident of an apartment in the three-story building escaped without injury, said Harry R. Miller, chief deputy state fire marshal.

Were just grateful that no one was injured, said Terrence Nichols, chief operations officer with Bennie Smith. Thats whats most important.

No human remains were damaged and no services were under way at the time of the fire, Miller and Nichols said. Damage was estimated at $350,000.

The funeral home management does not yet know whether it will be able to rebuild. At this point, were still talking with the insurance company, Nichols said.

The fire was caused by an electrical malfunction in branch-circuit wiring, where power comes out of the panel box, Miller said.

The house that burned was one of several locations for the business, which has its main office in Dover.

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Wiring fault caused Millsboro funeral home fire

March 6, 2014 Home destroyed in fire

By Jessica Farrish Register-Herald Reporter The Register-Herald Thu Mar 06, 2014, 12:01 AM EST

A mobile home fire in Coal City early Wednesday destroyed a familys home, local fire officials reported.

The fire started around 5:30 a.m. on Pine Street, according to officials.

The official cause of the fire had not been determined Wednesday evening, but Sophia City Fire Chief Jeff Pittman said initial reports from crew members suggested that the blaze began in electrical wiring.

Theyd done some remodeling on the place, he said.

Pittman said at least two people were in the house and that they had gotten out with just the clothes on their back.

It was pretty much a total loss, he added.

Coal City Fire Department was the lead responder, Pittman reported. Sophia Area, Rhodell and Lester fire departments also responded, along with Jan-Care and Best Care ambulance crews.

Jessica Farrish

Excerpt from:
Home destroyed in fire

FORT MOHAVE The phrase home improvement can mean a lot of different things to different people.

For some, it may mean knocking out a wall to expand a room. Or maybe putting up a wall to turn a wide-open space into two more cozy confines.

It can mean adding a new deck. Or remodeling the kitchen.

Or it can mean something relatively simple, such as changing the lighting, or the paint, or carpeting, or updating appliances.

Painting rental properties, the contractor said as Windham used a color spectophotometer, essentially a computer that identifies the color of a small sample so that a near-exact mixture can be produced to match it.

Every day, people are coming in matching colors, Windham said, suggesting that the prevailing trend in the Tri-state is not to change the color scheme but to freshen it up.

Color is always trending here in Bullhead, said Michael Paul, owner of Tri-State Building Materials and its Ace stores in Kingman, Bullhead City and Fort Mohave. We tend to follow the trend, but not as quickly as maybe Southern California or metro areas.

He said most customers tend to stay on the conservative side when it comes to paint color selection, but occasionally they make requests for non-traditional schemes.

Paul said lighting is also trending, especially with the demise of the incandescent light bulb. Some customers are staying ahead of the times by switching to other lighting sources LEDs, fluorescents and solar-powered lighting.

LEDs are starting to get more affordable, Paul said. Cost is starting to come down, making it more doable for most folks.

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Home improvement has a broad meaning

Published: Tuesday, March 4, 2014 at 7:33 a.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, March 4, 2014 at 7:34 p.m.

Firefighters with the Wallburg Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched at 2:19 a.m. Tuesday to the mobile home fire at 8707 N.C. Highway 109 North, Lot 7. Jamie Everhart, a shift supervisor with the Davidson County 911 Center, said the caller reported a mobile home was on fire prior to units arriving on the scene. Firefighters confirmed three people were dead on arrival, he said.

Piner, whose mobile home is less than 20 yards away from the burned residence, identified the mother as Kelly Stacy, 32. The two children are Kailee, 8, and Zachary, 3. The husband, who was injured, is Kenneth Blake Stacy II. Piner said the family celebrated Kailees birthday Sunday at the home that was destroyed in the fire. Kailee was in the second grade at Wallburg Elementary School and turned 8 years old on Feb. 25.

Piners three children were among the estimated 12 youngsters at the birthday party. She recalled Sundays occasion being a blast, with the children running around and eating cake.

They played games, Piner explained. (Kailee) just got a (Nintendo) DS for her birthday. She was excited about her birthday present, and now she is gone.

Its in a blink of an eye. One day you are here and youre fine, youre running around playing, and you see the news, peoples houses are burning down and thats on the news. But when you open up your back door at 2:15 (a.m.) and you watch your neighbors house burn to the ground

Piner said she was awakened by her husband, Christopher. The couple proceeded to find firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze. Piner screamed, Please get the babies out, get the babies out.

I know it didnt matter, said Piner, who has been one of the victims best friends for 15 years. They were trying. They were trying. I wanted them to try harder, but they were trying hard.

Piner said Kelly Stacy was a sweet person who was a stay-at-home mother and was known to take her children to the park and watch them ride bicycles. The friend said the mother, who graduated from East Davidson High School, made sure to take Kailee to school each day. The mobile home park is right beside Wallburg Elementary.

Mark Reid, chief of the Wallburg Volunteer Fire Department, said firefighters arrived to find the mobile home fully engulfed in flames. It took them about 30 minutes to contain the fire, which destroyed the mobile home.

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Fire in Wallburg kills woman and two children

By: Wayne Czybora/Licensed Home Inspector

You flip a switch and the light goes on. You open the refrigerator door and your food is cold. You press the TV remote button and you get to watch your favorite show. All is well with your electrical system, right? Dont count on it. There could be an electrical fire just waiting to happen.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), approximately 46,500 home fires occurred in 2010, resulting in $1.5 billion in property damage, 420 deaths and 1,520 injuries. Faulty wiring is the leading cause of residential fires and the older your house is, the greater the chances that the wiring might be unsafe.

Here is a list of some of the warning signs that homeowners should pay attention to:

-Breakers that trip or fuses that blow repeatedly -Flickering or dimming lights -Deteriorated wire insulation -Sizzling or buzzing sounds emanating from the electrical system -A tingling sensation when you touch an appliance- -Warm, discolored or sparking outlets -Sparks observed in the electrical system -A persistent burning smell from a room or appliance -No ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets at the required rooms

If your house has old knob and tube wiring, which dates back to the early 1900s, it is not uncommon to replace it with modern wiring. At the very least, it should be inspected annually by an electrician to ensure its safety. This type of wiring can become brittle in some areas due to its age and can heat up and cause a fire. It is also very possible that there are exposed wires in some areas that will result in a shock, if touched.

If you do have modern wiring, make sure you have the proper over-current devices (breakers or fuses) in the electrical panel. A breaker or fuse that is too large for the corresponding wire that leads to it can allow the wire to overheat and cause a fire.

Houses built in the 1960s and 1970s may have aluminum wiring instead of copper wiring. The reason for this is because aluminum was cheaper than copper during that time period. There is a greater chance of thermal expansion with aluminum wiring which can cause loose wire connections at the panel, switches, outlets and junction boxes. This can result in a fire, as well. One recommended approach to aluminum wiring is to replace it. Although it is possible to live safely with aluminum wiring but it needs to be inspected by an electrician to ensure the proper steps have been taken to eliminate the possibility of a fire.

Do not overload your circuits with too many power strips or extension cords. If this type of situation exists, there is a good chance you need to upgrade your electrical system.

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Is Your Electrical System Safe? - Real Estate Talk Boston - Boston.com