Paula Shipley with her cat Mittens outside her Cherryville home that was destroyed in a Sunday fire.

Friends of a Cherryville woman who lost everything she owns in a house fire Sunday morning have set up a fund for others to provide help.

Paula Shipley was asleep about 12:30 a.m. when her kitten woke her up, alerting her to a fire that was consuming her mobile home. She and the cat escaped, but two of her other pets died and the home was a total loss.

Fire investigators say the cause is undetermined, but believe faulty wiring may have been to blame.

Anyone who wants to help can make a donation to the Paula Shipley Fire Fund at any Woodforest National Bank, which has branches inside the Wal-Mart stores in Cherryville, Shelby and Belmont.

Shipley is sleeping on the couch at her nephew and nieces home in Kings Mountain but said she is still in need of clothes and other basic necessities. She had to cut off much of her hair because it was burned while she was escaping her home.

She had insurance, but said shes learned shell only receive a nominal amount to replace all the things she lost.

Im very optimistic, said Shipley, who has a history of helping others and of fostering abused animals. I look at the fact that Im just blessed to have the kitten and blessed that Im alive.

Shipley can also be reached directly at 704-802-4004.

Reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.

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Fund to help woman who lost home in fire

What you should know

Fires tend to be more common in the winter when we spend a lot of time indoors trying to stay warm and cozy.

Winter fires often start with heating devices, cooking, smoking, candles, and matches. Cooking fires are the primary cause of home fires and fire injuries. The most common time for winter fires is 5 to 8 p.m. Holiday insurance claims are often tied to dry Christmas trees, turkey fryers, fireworks, and candles. Over one-third of candle fires start in bedrooms

The most common disaster response by the American Red Cross is for single-family house fires more than 52,000 U.S. home fires and helping 226,000 people. The Red Cross responds with shelter, food and emotional support.

Space heaters cause one-third of home heating fires and four out of five home heating fire deaths.

Winter electrical fires may start if circuits and receptacles become overloaded or there are shorts in cords or devices.

You could be at a high risk for fires, especially if you live in a home over 30 years old or with fuses. Todays lifestyles often require a large electrical supply all in one place. For example, your desk may have a heater, digital TV, cable box, lamp, and radio nearby. But you might also have a computer with screen, desk phone, printer, modem, mobile phone recharger, speakers, coffee warmer, phone, fax, scanner, and shredder. Many old homes were not build for such high demand in just one room. Some older homes have dangerous aluminum wiring as well.

Working smoke alarms are extremely important for helping you react and escape from a potential fire.

What you should do

Develop a fire escape plan. Practice your plan at least twice a year with everyone, including young children. Ask everyone to meet outside in a specific place in case of a fire. Everyone should know two ways to escape from each room.

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Healthy Memphis: Make home cozy without risk of winter fire

An electrical problem started a fire that caused damages totaling $175,000 at a North Lebanon Township home Thursday afternoon, a fire chief said.

The fire was sparked by the electrical wiring of a water filtering system, said Weavertown Fire Chief Donald Steiner.

The fire caused damages of $100,000 to the home at 614 E. Maple St. and $75,000 to its contents, he said. The basement sustained fire damage, and the rest of the house had heavy smoke damage. Steiner said smoke detectors in the house did not go off, possibly because of dead batteries.

Firefighters from nine fire companies were dispatched to extinguish the fire.

aggravated assault >> Julie Graham, 25, Harrisburg, was charged with having unprotected sexual intercourse with a 25-year-old Swatara Township man at his home between June 1 and 30, knowing she was HIV positive and not telling him, state police at Lickdale said Saturday. They also had sex at Graham's home in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County, during that time, police said. Police said Graham also lied about her HIV status.

She was arraigned Friday before District Judge Kim Wolfe, who set her bail at $25,000, police said. In addition to aggravated assault, she was charged with sexual assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, police said.

Burglary >> Two people broke into the Schubert Best gas station, 5836 Four Point Road, in Bethel Township by throwing an object through the front door and shattering glass at 4:50 a.m. Saturday, state police at Hamburg said. The pair entered the store and took a cash register and cigarettes.

One of the burglars wore a white, hooded sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers, police said. The other wore a checkered hooded sweatshirt believed to be black and white, jeans and sneakers. The gender, height, weight and age of the burglars could not be determined. The suspect wearing the white sweatshirt fled from the store with the cash register, and the other took the cigarettes. The two split up and headed in opposite directions when they left.

Anyone with further information should call police at at 610-562-6885.

Water investigation >> Two adults and a child were displaced by a water supply line break Friday night in the first block of East Pine Street in Cleona.

Originally posted here:
Police blotter, 1/5

CHICKASHA

A man was arrested earlier this week for second degree burglary after allegedly stealing copper and part of a rolling chair from an unoccupied home.

Chickasha Police detained Donald Guffee for second degree burglary and possession of stolen property after they responded to an unknown address in the 600 block of S. 13th St. for a burglary in progress. The reporting party said they saw a male subject, later identified as Guffee, in a detached garage behind a residence on Sunday afternoon.

After initially not finding anyone, officers staked out the area when they saw Guffee walk up with dragging a gray, 55-gallon trash can and carrying a black and yellow toolbox. The officer observed that the trash contained copper fittings, wire and other items.

When Guffee was asked what was going on, Guffee replied that a black male named "Vernell" told him to go to the residence and drag a trash can out into the alley so he could come pick it up. The officer asked Guffee if the items were his, and he replied that they were not.

The officer placed Guffee under investigative detention and investigated the back door of the residence, which was open. Copper wiring had been ripped from a wall in the living room area, and it appeared that the home was obviously in the middle of a remodeling.

Police then contacted the homeowner, who said that no one had permission to be inside the house or garage or to take any of his things. The homeowner said that a roll of 12/2 yellow coated wiring should be inside the house. The officer said that this wiring was actually in the trashcan that Guffee had been dragging.

The officer had also seen the top of a Craftsman rolling chair, made of metal and later identified as belonging to the homeowner, in the trashcan that Guffee had been dragging.

Guffee said that a friend of his named Josh had told him to go to the residence and take the trashcan to the alleyway so he could pick it up. In a later interview, Josh said that Guffee had not been at his residence that day.

Guffee told another officer that a black man named "Vernell" who was drunk and at Josh's house gave him $18 to come take the trashcan out to the alleyway. Guffee said that an electrician told him that there was wiring in the trashcan. The officer reported that Guffee later changed his story, saying that it was a plumber who told him about the items. Guffee also provided different locations than he was coming from. First he said he was coming from Josh's house and the later said he was coming from another subject, "Mike's" home. When it was brought to Guffee's attention that his story was changing, Guffee stated that the officers were making him nervous.

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Alleged copper crook arrested after story corrodes

An electrical problem started a fire that caused damages totaling $175,000 at a North Lebanon Township home Thursday afternoon, a fire chief said.

The fire was sparked by electrical wiring of a water filtering system, said Weavertown Fire Co. Chief Donald Steiner.

The fire caused damages of $100,000 to the home at 614 E. Maple St. and $75,000 to its contents, he said.

The basement sustained fire damage and the rest of the house had heavy smoke damage, the fire chief said.

Steiner said smoke detectors in the house did not go off, possibly because of dead batteries.

Jim Light, who lived in the home, said he laid down Thursday afternoon and was drifting off to sleep when his dog, Quinn, barked and woke him. He said he then heard water pipes banging in the basement and discovered his kitchen was filled with smoke.

Light and his dog escaped the fire unharmed.

Firefighters from nine fire companies were dispatched to extinguish the fire.

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Electrical problem caused North Lebanon fire

SAN MATEO -- Uatesoni and Anna Paasi spent the morning of Black Friday at Kmart buying a new oven. They needed it for a special occasion: a party following the ceremonial blessings of two infant grandchildren.

On Sunday, Dec. 1, the Mormon couple hosted more than 50 friends and relatives in their backyard, serving roast leg of pork and other Tongan specialties. They had held dozens of family gatherings since buying their York Avenue house in 2006. This may have been the last.

Three days later, Anna Paasi stood in the street in shock, watching flames consume their home in San Mateo's North Shoreview neighborhood. Despite the heat from the fire, she was shivering.

"It was not too cold," recalled Anna Paasi, 53, "but I was shaking."

No one was hurt in the fire, which began around 10 p.m. and burned into the early morning, but the Paasis lost most of their possessions, including a pickup truck that was parked in the driveway. The fire marshal has not determined the cause, but the Paasis say firefighters told them it may have been electrical wiring in the garage.

Their home is insured through their bank, they say, and they hope to rebuild. But they did not have insurance for their belongings. A friend of the family has begun an online fundraising drive to help them put their lives back together.

Blackened shell

On Thursday, Uatesoni and Anna Paasi drove to their charred two-bedroom house from a San Mateo homeless shelter where they are staying along with five family members, including two sons and a grandson, who lived with them.

The broken windows of the one-story building are boarded up. There is a pile of trash on the lawn. Inside the blackened, gutted house the carpet is still spongy from the water that put out the flames. The Paasis' prized oven is rust-colored, oxidized by the fire and heaped with insulation that fell down from the attic.

Anna Paasi picked through the ruins of her bedroom, looking for salvageable clothes. She and her husband were wearing outfits they bought with a $1,000 debit card from the Red Cross.

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Fundraiser supports San Mateo family who lost home in fire

Wiring Panel for Structured Wiring The Wiring Panel is the heart of any Structured Wiring job. You should have already chosen the location of your wiring panel when you created your Wiring Plan. This should probably be placed in the basement if you have one. Otherwise, a closet will work too. The benefit of proper structured wiring plan is that all wires terminate in one location - your wiring panel. This makes it much easier to change your setup and to diagnose and repair problems.

Purchasing a wiring panel can add a professional finish to your work, but they can also be expensive. The empty panel might start as low as $50, but you end up getting trapped into using their overpriced modules for phone, cable, and internet distribution. I was able to find a standalone 24 port internet switch for less than the cost of a Leviton 4 port hub. If your wiring panel will be visible (it is located in a closet or small room) then you might want to go with a real wiring panel like the one shown above. Since my wiring panel is hidden in an unfinished closet in the basement, I prefer to save the money and just mount everything to the wall. The wires are visible, but it also has more room makes it easier to move things around.

Any non-electrical wires from outside the home should be run to the wiring panel. As you can see below, most companies are trying to offer the big 3 services (phone, TV, & internet). Having all wires start from the same location makes it easier to switch between companies. Everyone is always offering a better deal for new customers to get them to switch. The panel will then distribute these to the rest of the home. This includes:

With a structured wiring plan, the cable modem is located at the wiring panel in the basement. The incoming cable is run to the cable modem. The Cat5 cable is then run to a internet switch which can then distribute the internet throughout the home. A typical wiring panel will contain a Cable or DSL modem, a internet switch, a WiFi router, phone splitter, TV / satellite splitters, and an alarm panel.

Before cutting any wires, do a rough layout of where each switch, splitter, switch, and panel will be. I like to start at the top with the wires coming in from the street, then the grounds, then splitters at the bottom.

The second method for phone distribution is to simply buy a multi-port phone splitter.

Each wire must be terminated with a 6 pin phone connector. A special crimping tool and phone connectors are required to do this. Each wire in the braid is inserted through its own hole in the connector, then the wires are crimped to hold them in the connector. Finally, the excess wire is trimmed from the end of the connector. Only untwist as little wire as necessary.

For coaxial wires, you must crimp on a coax connector before connecting it to the splitter. Do not use the twist on connectors. You can use a standard wire stripper to strip the coaxial cable, but a custom coax stripper will give you a perfect cut. After stripping the wire, push the braid back on the wire and then crimp on the connector. The white insulator should just be visible inside the connector. Be sure to get the correct RG6 (not RG59) connectors. Make sure that the braid and the inner core do not touch.

All coaxial wires (cable or satellite) coming in from the street should be grounded. Most splitters have built in ground connections, but if they don't you can use a separate grounding block. If the builder hasn't already provided a ground, you will need to run a copper wire from your copper water pipe to under the screw on the grounding block.

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Wiring Panel - Structured Home Wiring

16619 Rose Bay Tr, Cypress, TX 77429
WOW!!! Large Home, Lot and Large Lot of Garage Space! Owner occupied Hardwood floors on first floor except for master and laundry(tile). Window Shutters, Sun...

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16619 Rose Bay Tr, Cypress, TX 77429 - Video

An early morning New Years Day fire at a city home displaced five people and caused at least $20,000 damage, a city fire official said.

City fire crews were called to 226 E. Lehman St. at 5:37 a.m. Wednesday for a fire in the walls of the home.

City Fire Commissioner Duane Trautman said the fire was caused by old wiring tied into new wiring. The fire started on the second floor and spread into the attic, he said.

He estimated damage between $20,000 and $25,000. The fire commissioner said the fire caused extensive damage to the floor joists and flooring in the attic and framing on the second floor.

"There's a lot of work to be done (to repair it)," he said.

Two adults and three children lived in the rental property, Trautman said.

The cause of the fire was ruled accidental, the fire commissioner said.

Trautman said the property owner is expected to face charges because there were no smoke detectors inside the home.

The names of the property owners and the occupants of the home were not available Wednesday.

"Someone happened to be awake (and noticed the fire). They're lucky to be alive," Trautman said.

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POLICE, FIRE LOG for Jan. 2: Lebanon fire displaces five

Shopping for homeowner insurance has become much more complicated over the past several years. There was a time when auto insurance was a much tougher market than homeowner insurance. That led to a rise in the marketplace of monoline auto insurance companies like Geico and Progressive. They found a market niche and are now two of the top five companies in premium volume in property and casualty insurance. Now companies will more readily write the auto exposure by itself but will not write homeowners coverage without supporting business such as autos. Most companies offer a discount from 10 percent to 20 percent on each policy to write them in a package. What has changed and what should you do to get the best coverage at the lowest cost?

Weather is the biggest culprit affecting higher costs of insuring your home. This could be due to fire damage with the use of space heaters in cold weather, wind blowing trees onto houses, lightning striking houses or hail damaging roofs. This does not take into account catastrophic losses from hurricanes, earthquakes or tornadoes. The primary coverage affected by these perils is coverage A on your policy, which is the value of the dwelling. That value is based on the replacement cost of your home not the market cost or what you can sell it for. In most cases today the replacement cost exceeds the market cost.

Most companies use a software program that takes into account location, quality of construction, age and square footage to determine the value the company will insure a home for.

Once the value of the dwelling is established, the amount of insurance for other structures such as detached garages or storage sheds, personal property and loss of use are a percentage of the dwelling amount. Medical payments coverage, personal liability and deductible amount are written for the amount the customer wants. Many carriers also include fungi and mold coverage at specific limits. Be careful not to over insure on any coverage. What you are insuring against is a major loss that you cannot cover out of pocket and would set you back financially.

So how do you get the best rate for the best coverage? First, know the coverage that adequately protects your risk. What amount of liability coverage is needed to protect your assets? What amount of medical payments coverage is adequate? Do you need replacement cost on contents instead of actual cash value (depreciated cost)? Other optional coverage may also be needed. Then contact an agent or company and market both your auto and homeowner policies. Make sure you get the rates for different deductibles on your homeowner quote. Most companies will start at $1,000 deductible, but price $2,000 or $2,500 deductibles.

Most companies use your credit score to determine the tier of premium they put you in. The higher the credit score, the lower the tier and lower the rate. Independent studies have shown a direct correlation between credit history and loss proclivity. Companies also base their rate on past claims experience. Insure your home for a major loss, and save money by paying any small claims if there are any. Install deadbolt locks and smoke detectors and test the smoke detectors every six months. If you can afford it, install a centrally monitored security system. The discount on your homeowner premium could offset over half of the annual monitoring cost.

Rather than be placid about the cost of homeowner insurance, be proactive. Reduce the hazards around your home such as updating wiring and reducing clutter. Understand how much coverage you need and shop for the product that meets your needs at the best price. Remember the package discount. It is offered in the marketplace so take advantage of it and save money.

Dave Pushman is the former regional vice president of Geico in Macon and is now an independent insurance agent with Tidwell and Hilburn Insurance. He can be reached at davep@th-ins.com.

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The Insurance Corner: Shopping for homeowner insurance more complex