Neighborhood Justice, Part 3

Greg the Fire Inspector called me this morning and apologized for not returning my call sooner. He said that the fire was deemed accidental due to an appliance malfunction. At the time of the fire, he was questioning the family when he got a call of ANOTHER fire a few blocks away (I never knew my town was so flammable!) The police told him that they would continue questioning. The appliance malfunction was what they found.

Okay. If I had an appliance malfunction causing my house to go up in flames, I'd be calling a lawyer and suing that crap out of that appliance company. If the iron was left on or a radio fell into the tub I could see how that would cause a fire. But that would be the malfunction of my idiot neighbors, not the appliance. Getting back...

He gave me the name of the town Building Inspector and advised me to call him about the status of the house. We talked about the insurance and I asked if it was odd to him that this is taking so long. He agreed wholeheartedly, saying especially since they've been in the mobile home since the fire. Insurance is covering the home, so you'd think that they'd want this resolved as soon as possible since it must be getting quite expensive. He also sympathized and told me that he wouldn't want a mobile home in his yard either. Then we joked about how I woke up and saw the mobile home drive into the backyard.

I asked him what the Building Inspector was allowed to tell me and he said that a lot of specifics are public information, especially since the house could be considered a vacant building since no one has been living there. I called the Building Inspector.

He wasn't in, but left a message with his secretary (?) that I was referred and gave her the address of the house. She said that their office closes at noon on Friday so he may not return my call until Monday. I told her that was okay, as long as I know he gets the message.

Stay tuned....