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Posted on Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 5:59 a.m.

Woman whose home burned for 2nd time: 'I don't know why someone wants to keep doing this to me'

By Kyle Feldscher

071812_NEWS_Jefferson_Fire_.jpg

Patricia Ware stands in front of the home she lived in for 17 years at 875 Jefferson St. in Ypsilanti. A fire broke out early Sunday, causing major damage to the house. "I just don't understand, I do everything for everybody. There's nothing I won't do for people, " Ware said.

Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com

Patricia Ware couldn’t even bring herself to go back to her home on Jefferson Street in Ypsilanti until Wednesday.

The home, which burned for the second time in three years early Sunday morning, is now 75 percent destroyed, Ypsilanti Fire Department officials said. Ware moved out of the home several years ago to move in with her daughter, who has severe multiple sclerosis, and her granddaughter after spending 17 years at the residence.

The thought of the gutted home, blackened from flames, sitting idly on that Ypsilanti street brings her to tears.

“Frustrating is not the word,” she said Wednesday, her voice cracking with emotion. “It’s devastating. I’m hurt. I don’t know why someone wants to keep doing this to me.”

Ware said she lived at the home until it became apparent her daughter could not live there due to her disease. Ware got her daughter an apartment and eventually moved there to take care of her.

Fire crews were called to the home at 875 Jefferson St. at 12:15 a.m. Sunday to find the home engulfed in flames. Officials estimated the fire caused about $30,000 worth of damage to the home, and it was initially deemed suspicious. Fire Chief Jon Ichesco said there was no gas or electricity on at the home and there were no other natural igniters in the residence. Investigators have since said they cannot determine the cause of the fire.

On Wednesday, Ichesco said Ware had been working with the city to determine what to do with the home. The building had already been through two dangerous building hearings, and he said the next step was for the Ypsilanti City Council to determine what should happen to the home.

Teresa Gillotti, Ypsilanti’s city planner, said the city had been in touch with Ware, who had asked for more time to try to sell the property.

“We gave her a little bit of time and were in follow up mode from that,” she said.

Mayor Pro Tem Lois Richardson said she was not aware the house had burned Sunday morning and she wanted to check with city staffers about the incident before speaking to AnnArbor.com.

Firefighters spent about three hours at the home, knocking down the flames from outside the building because the interior was too dangerous to enter, Ichesco said. The previous fire, determined to be an arson, destabilized the floors and there was a risk to firefighters’ safety if they entered.

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The back of the house was severely damaged in Sunday's fire.

Melanie Maxwell

“We have a policy of not entering a dangerous building,” he said. “There are holes in the floors and stairs, it’s a good way to get hurt or killed.”

Ichesco said many possessions were still inside the home, but Ware didn’t know what she had lost in the fire. She hadn't been able to bring herself to go take a look at the damage until Wednesday afternoon.

After being at the home for a short period Wednesday, she told AnnArbor.com, "I just don't understand. I do everything for everybody. There's nothing I won't do for people." She declined to speak further before driving away.

She said it’s been years since anyone lived in the home, and there were padlocks on the doors and boards over the windows. That didn’t stop vandals from defacing the outside of the home and vagrants from entering.

“It’s difficult to keep people away,” she said. “There’s locks on the front door, the back door is sealed in. They just keep coming in.”

The home was about 50 percent destroyed in the previous fire about three years ago after a vehicle in the driveway was set on fire, Ware said. Ichesco confirmed that fire was ruled an arson.

He said the home has been on the department’s radar because it was considered a dangerous building. Since 2003, the fire department has inventoried dangerous buildings in the city and gotten to know the buildings well in order to safely navigate them if a fire were to occur.

The home showed no obvious signs of arson after the latest fire, Ichesco said. The doors were still locked, the windows were still boarded up and there wasn’t any evidence found on the scene. He’s ruled the cause of the fire undetermined.

At this point, it would be cheaper to simply build a new house on the property instead of trying to repair what’s left, he said.

“If you were going to rebuild, it’s cheaper to knock it down and rebuild on the foundation,” he said.

However, it’s something that Ware might not be ready to think about yet.

“I don’t know what else to say,” she said through tears. “I’m just hurt.”

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

Comments

Woman in Ypsilanti

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 8:53 p.m.

This is very sad. Maybe she can have the house knocked down and then sell the lot?

ahi

Fri, Jul 20, 2012 : 1:39 p.m.

And lot isn't worth $10K

BobbyJohn

Fri, Jul 20, 2012 : 2:11 a.m.

Costs roughly about $10K for demolition and haul away.

Cash

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 7:42 p.m.

Very very sorry, Ms Ware. I hope you and your daughter can make it through all of this. You're in my prayers.

justcary

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 5 p.m.

Whew, thank goodness we have readers ready to speculate on the cause of the fire so we don't have to wait for a fully informed or expert statement or have to think for ourselves. It's important to follow the conversation guidelines so you can Bet I wilL not Lash out at You personally if you fall into this category of reader.

Enso

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 4:58 p.m.

In the words of that great philosopher George Zimmerman: "It's all just God's plan." I think he's right. Let's just blame God for this one.

Enso

Fri, Jul 20, 2012 : 12:51 p.m.

For burning down some poor woman's home? A woman who is struggling to take care of her daughter who is severely handicapped for life? You're right! The Good Lord deserves praise for that one! What a great God!

a2citizen

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 11:42 p.m.

Blame him or thank him?

Elijah Shalis

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 1:34 p.m.

It looks like an abandoned home to me. No upkeep on the bushes or yard etc.

Madeleine Borthwick

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 1:29 p.m.

Patricia, I am so very sorry to hear of your loss. you are in my prayers. May God bless you during this difficult time. take care, Madeleine

YpsiLivin

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 1:16 p.m.

"We have a policy of not entering a dangerous building," he said. Heh. Firefighters. Aren't buildings on fire automatically considered "dangerous?"

jns131

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 10:56 p.m.

Which is why that place over off of Rawsonville is not being burnt because it can be that. A death trap. I wish this woman luck.

Tex Treeder

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 1:53 p.m.

Lighten up, Frances. YpsiLivin was obviously making a joke.

Madeleine Borthwick

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 1:28 p.m.

Ypsilivin, please don't attack firefighters. what they do is hard, dangerous work. Maybe you should get into their boots and try it yourself.

willywonka

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 12:29 p.m.

I'm sorry for this woman's loss of property; no one's home should burn. At the same time, when a structure has no one living in it, has no gas or electricity, is overgrown and has gone through official proceedings as a dangerous property, it is, in effect, abandoned.

Billy

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 12:01 p.m.

I'm guessing that since they've said nothing about fraud she didn't have insurance on the house so that's clearly not a line of investigation. Since they say there were no signs of arson, and that the house was effectively abandoned....I'm going to guess crackheads smoking crack is the likely cause of the fire.

jns131

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 10:55 p.m.

Jon? happens to me to. Who knows why they do what they do.

Jake C

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 7:16 p.m.

That could be a legitimate first guess, except; "The doors were still locked, the windows were still boarded up and there wasn't any evidence found on the scene." I'm not aware of any cases of crackheads locking the doors behind them as they escape from a burning building.

Jon Wax

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 12:46 p.m.

how does my post get taken down and THIS gets left up? Peace

Davidian

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 11:42 a.m.

I really feel for this woman. Let's hope it's not arson. On a side note, you would think that given her situation, a neighbor might come by and offer to help keep up her property a little more. I know that's how it works in my neighborhood anyway. Pretty sad how people just don't care. Good luck to her.

Davidian

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 1:46 p.m.

Billy, I lived on the south side for many years, about 4 blocks north of her house as a matter of fact. And no, it wasn't pleasantville. but I helped out my neighbors. Have a nice day.

Billy

Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 12:09 p.m.

I don't think you understand the neighborhood in which she lives..... The neighbors around there.....yeah it's not like Pleasantville....