Posted on 03/10/2011 12:03:13 PM PST by NormsRevenge
PITTSBURGH (Reuters) – An elderly man was killed when his home, piled high with debris, burst into flames and he was unable to escape through a crammed door, firefighters said on Thursday.
Firefighters trying to battle the blaze pushed their way into the home jammed with pizza boxes and other detritus and found the body of John Rabusseau, 77, early Wednesday morning.
"He was a hoarder, which they attribute to part of why he died because he couldn't get out the door," said Crystal Rosensteel, a records clerk at the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire.
"They actually had to force the door open because of all the debris," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I can almost guarantee you this is happening in your neighborhood.. almost. My wife gets on my case for never throwing stuff out then I show her her room. ;-)
I watched a few of the TV shows and most of the people say they are “Collectors” — but truth is they are slobs. The last one I watched was the young guy who had 3 coffee pots on the sink (with all the other crap) and said “it’s easier to buy a new coffee pot than clean the old one.” Turned the channel.
Sad. RIP.
I've wondered about this. Could family members or neighbors be held accountable for neglect? (not saying they should, just wondering if they could.)
There are so many rules now to get rid of stuff, it may be easier to just stack it up. My mother in law found it just eaiser to stick in the basement than try to get rid of it. She had health issues and was living alone. Not the whole problem, but part of it...............
My sister-in-law works with a city dealing with cases like this. One guy’s house was so full he couldn’t open the door. Had to go up a ladder into a second story window.
True Fact.
Poor guy. He was really burned up over the junk in his house.
I have seen this kind of thing a lot in people who lived thru the Depression, including some family members. The experience just left them with a sort of phobia about ever throwing anything away.
His son was on the local news last night. He hadn’t let the kids in the house for several years. They were pretty upset over his living conditions but couldn’t force him to do anything. The son urged anyone who knows someone living under these conditions to try to get them help so this doesn’t happen to them.
Yes, that is very true. My dad is one of them. He once got mad at my sister because she was going to throw away a rubber-band wrapped bunch of restaurant swizzle sticks.
They interviewed a daughter too who said they tried to force the guy into some mental health counseling, and was told the only way to do that was to prove the guy was a threat to himself or others. They couldn't prove that.
They talked to a psychiatrist too who said that the hording impulse is one of the toughest to treat.
People with alzheimer’s start to hoard stuff (and hide stuff). Friends of mine, after their father died (w/ alzheimers), were cleaning the house, discarding a bunch of old newspapers.
They noticed some twenties sticking out from one of the newspapers and from thereon, had to go through each newspapers page by page ... found scads of bills. They had already gotten rid of half of the newspapers when they made the discovery.
“I have seen this kind of thing a lot in people who lived thru the Depression”
From the show, I know that it falls under OCD. Many of the people aren’t that old. Some buy more and more and more. They are truly mentally ill.
A lot of these hoarders are hooked on the TV shopping shows and they just can’t pass up a “great deal.”
I knew a lady like this. She had new TVs and toasters and such stacked to the ceiling—still in the boxes.
He certainly would’ve been enflamed had he known the publicity he created.
I knew two people like this.
Hey Norm!We’ll be seeing this soon on “A Thousand Ways to Die”
He was hot under the collar, that’s for sure!
My father-in-law married one of these women. She spent an awful lot of money on QVC and HSN. Clothing was piled high on beds and stuffed into closets, mostly with tags still intact. She had 7 or 8 vacuum cleaners, mostly still in the carton. Makeup, jewelry, pocketbooks . . . it was endless.
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