On October 18, 2020, we had a house fire.
As I write this, we are currently about one week out from the fire and I am ready to share what happened. I have to document this devastating event somehow without letting it tear me apart. But I need to start from the beginning – from before it happened- because not only was the fire inevitable, we knew we had a real problem since the day we moved into the home. The fire is the final event after a long series of battles to try to prevent it. (Note: I have changed the names of those involved to protect their identities.)
House Hunting
Our house hunt began in mid-January 2020, right as the pandemic was becoming serious and imminent. We obtained a realtor, Mitch, by requesting to view a property on Trulia. Mitch showed us some houses and we put an offer in on one that was nearly everything we wanted. It was a single-level, ranch style home with a lot of land in a quiet, country area about 15 minutes outside of Idaho Falls. Mitch recommended Kyle, the inspector, for us. My husband, Mark, walked through the entire inspection with Kyle but after assessing the extent of the repairs that would be needed, we decided to pull our offer. The home had mold, sewage, plumbing, electrical, and foundation issues. It was the foundation issue that really sealed the decision. We had a 2.5-year-old son and a baby on the way. Even though we are comfortable with a fixer-upper, we still needed the home to be move-in ready and, most importantly, safe. The home needed thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars in repairs and it just couldn’t work for us.
We viewed other homes with Mitch in Rigby, Idaho Falls, and Blackfoot. It was obvious Mitch was upset we didn’t close on the previous home. I remember one time we were viewing a property in Blackfoot and Mitch approached me while Mark used the restroom. Mitch made some comments that I’ll never forget. He teased that Mark wouldn’t be able to complete any repairs on a house and he questioned me as to why Mark is permanently disabled and even questioned why he really needs a service dog. In addition to this encounter, Mitch was pushy, sneaky, and totally untrustworthy. But we had already signed a contract with Mitch after putting the offer in on the previous home.
Finding Our Home
Before giving up on our home search, we asked to view some houses in Pocatello. It turned out Mitch didn’t service Pocatello so he recommended Tristan, another realtor in their company. I can’t tell you the relief we felt to be free of working with Mitch. Tristan showed us 5-10 houses in Pocatello which, at the time, were all our options. We wanted to put an offer in on one but the homeowners already accepted an offer. When all hope felt lost for buying a home this year, we heard from Tristan about a property that was sent to him by his realtor friend. He said the home hadn’t even hit the market yet and urged us to put an offer in before viewing it. We couldn’t do that so we jumped in the car and drove to Pocatello to view the property.
The neighborhood was nice. The home was near an elementary school, had 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, and a gigantic backyard. We didn’t like that the bedrooms were split with 2 on the top floor and 2 in the basement but we resolved that we could use the living space in the basement as a master bedroom until we could afford to remodel or until the kids were a bit older. The seller disclosed that the upstairs bathtub needed to be refinished at our own expense and that the roof was to be redone, the wood floors in the living room were going to be refinished, and the second bedroom in the basement would have flooring put in before we moved in. There was also a plumbing/sewage backup issue that the seller originally said he would take care of but later backed out of that commitment. In the paperwork, the seller documented that there was no water damage and no electrical issues. The inspector gave everything the all-good. We put an offer in, and with Tristan’s help, the seller accepted our offer. Tristan was close friends and business partners with the seller’s realtor.
The Home Inspection
We used Kyle again for the home inspection on the house because 1) Mitch told us Kyle did discounts for repeated inspections and 2) Mark liked his work on the first house. On March 2, Mark drove from Rexburg to Pocatello to do the inspection with Kyle. Although Kyle and Tristan knew Mark was coming, Tristan told Mark he couldn’t do the inspection with Kyle. Mark hadn’t slept well for two days and he was super tired. I remember that because I wasn’t sure if he’d have the energy to drive to Pocatello for the inspection. When Mark arrived, Tristan told Mark that Kyle alleged it would take too long with Mark following along. Over the course of the coming months, Tristan revealed that Mitch told him not to allow Mark to do the inspection with Kyle. Tristan also said Kyle complained that Mark was very picky during the first home we had inspected.
Throughout March, the seller repeatedly tried to push off our move-in date. We learned from Tristan that the seller was not approved for a home loan like he thought he would be, and he couldn’t buy another home. The seller no longer wanted to sell the property. Without consulting us, Tristan told the seller we’d sue him if he didn’t go through with the sale since all the paperwork had already been signed. I only learned of this when I was talking to Tristan at the office, while we were signing the closing documents.
We asked to do a walk-thru before moving in, to ensure that the agreed-upon repairs were completed. When we arrived to do the walk-thru, Tristan said the seller was really mad and only one of us could go into the house. Mark went in and did a very quick walk-thru. Many repairs were not done. The flooring in the second bedroom downstairs still hadn’t been put down and the wood floors were not refinished. The day we moved in, Tristan left $200 from the seller inside the home to cover the cost of putting in the flooring downstairs. We had to schedule a time for the flooring company to come and refinish the wood flooring.
Finally Moved In
On March 31, we hired a few local movers to help us unload the Uhaul. During the unload, a mover observed sparks shooting out of the 220 outlet for the dryer. According to Mark, the outlet is a 220, 30-amp receptacle with a 40-amp breaker and 12-gauge wire. Mark said it should be 10-gauge at most but preferably 8-gage or bigger. Mark also did a more detailed inspection while I worked to unpack some things. Mark observed some very alarming issues with the electrical wiring in the attic and in the breaker box. The breaker box was actually still painted over and was extremely difficult to get open. This begs the question: did Kyle even open it and inspect it?
Between March and October, we fought to get help with the repairs. In our first few weeks at the house, we discovered significant amounts of black mold and rotting wood in the basement bathroom. We found water damage that was painted over inside the basement bathroom and water damage in the adjoining bedroom which still needed to have the flooring installed. All the evidence of water damage was either concealed or in the process of getting covered up. The electrical issues included wires not in boxes, 12- and 14-gauge wire connected together, and no wire nuts with everything soldered. All of these issues combined are actually what started the fire. Interestingly enough, I’ve been told by neighbors that the seller was a licensed electrician.
Learn more about our story at KPVI News and keep an eye out for “House Fire Part II” where I will talk about all the efforts we made to prevent this, and “House Fire Part III” where I will talk about the actual fire and the few days/weeks after.
