Fire In the Attic

     This is a story of how I almost lost everything I worked for.

     In order to get the furnace turned on in the attic apartment, National Grid had to come in and turn on the electric and gas for Apartment 4, which the attic apartment is connected to. A few weeks ago, the National Grid tech came over to Property 5 and went into the basement to turn everything on. I decided to stay in the attic, just in case the National Grid guy wanted to be nosy and poke around the illegal attic apartment. So I’m on the phone with a prospective tenant when all of a sudden… WHOOOOSH! A fire broke out coming from the area of the gas pipe running between Apartment 4 and the attic. The fire then spread to one of the roof beams, and I was in a massive panic! I couldn’t call the fire department or else they would see the illegal work being done in the attic. And I couldn’t alert the National Grid tech to the issue or he would call the fire department as well, or at least make an official note in his report.

     So I went downstairs as the flames burned in the attic, calmly asking the National Grid tech to cancel turning on the heat and gas. My excuse was that I had to leave and take care of an emergency at another property. After he agreed, I ran back upstairs to the attic as the flames continued to burn. Once the gas had been turned off, the flames died down and I was able to blow out the remaining flames with my breath. The damage was minimal, but still crazy to see:

Looks bad, but thankfully those burn marks can be sanded off

The flames burned through the gas pipe insulation

This one wire burned from one end to the other, which made very little sense considering that it wasn't hooked up to any electric panel

     HVAC Gonzalez blamed the new electric work done, while Electrician Floyd couldn’t find anything electric that would cause that kind of fire. Witnessing that the power of the flames died down once the gas and electric was turned off, I honestly believe that Gonzalez was at fault. My belief is also fueled by the fact that Gonzalez replaced the flexible gas pipe with the more traditional iron cast gas pipe. Why wouldn’t he replace it with the same type of pipe if he didn’t think there was anything wrong with its original installation? I was even able to hear something that  sounded like gas pushing out the flames when  the gas was on. Unfortunately I can't put the blame on anyone because I don’t have the knowledge needed to assess the situation. If neither party is willing to admit fault, I just have to keep going and hope that the problem has been solved.

     This was a close one. Had I not been in the attic when the fire started, it would have burned like a motherfucker, taking out both the attic and burning down the property as a whole. The city would bury me in enough reckless endangerment lawsuits that I’d never be able to continue my chosen profession in real estate. Had there been another defect in the gas line, I would certainly be dead and the whole place would have gone to shit. While I wouldn’t have a problem with my death or the death of the annoying National Grid tech, Handyman Jerry was working in Apartment 3 and would have died as well.

     The fire definitely gave me second thoughts about whether the attic apartment is still worth building. I mean, think about it. Maxed out credit cards? Fires? Risking house explosion or death of inhabitants? All to save about $800 - $900 a month?? To be honest, answering that question doesn't matter at this point. I'm halfway through the construction of the attic apartment and have too much money invested to pull out now. I'll just have to be very careful with how I do things from here on out.

P.S.: You know, had that place burned to the ground, my insurance would have covered none of it due to the construction of the attic apartment without a permit. Once it's completely finished, I can simply say that the apartment was there when I bought the place, and they wouldn't have a reason to think otherwise. It's really crazy to think of how many ways I could have been screwed due to the fire.