Plumber error leads to fire
                 BY CORY GOLDEN Lincoln Journal Star

                 Rocky Hatfield and Jason Weyers stood in
                 the cold Wednesday, munching cookies
                 while watching fire, smoke and water destroy
                 their worldly possessions.

                 "It could have been worse," Weyers
                 decided, shaking a Marlboro free from its
                 pack.

                 Around 2:30 p.m., after attending classes at
                 Southeast Community College, Weyers
                 stopped by the place at Valley View
                 Apartments, 6235 Holdrege St., he and
                 Hatfield just moved into last weekend.

                 Weyers found his apartment, No. 1 in
                 building B, filled with smoke. Finding no
                 cause but hearing the smoke alarm blaring in
                 his neighbor's townhouse, he called his
                 roommate at work and then their landlord, who called 911.

                 The fire started between apartments 1 and 2, traveling up the
wall, Deputy
                 Fire Chief Bret Davis said. The heat burst water pipes,
adding to the
                 destruction.

                 Fire investigator Don Gross said a plumber soldering joints
accidentally lit a
                 sound board between the apartments. The board smoldered
before igniting
                 nearby 2-by-4s, he said.

                 The plumber, who left without noticing the board had caught
fire, told Gross
                 he did not wet down nearby combustible surfaces, as required.
Gross said he
                 had not determined whether the plumber would be cited.

                 The plumber was at the apartment to fix a leaky dishwasher,
Weyers said.

                 Gross estimated total damage to the kitchens and bathrooms in
both units, as
                 well as to plumbing, wiring and roofing, at $60,000.

                 Weyers and Hatfield ticked off their possessions - a DVD
player, stereos,
                 new furniture, hunting gear - before valuing their
possessions at a combined
                 $6,000. Neither had renter's insurance.

                 "Pretty much everything I had was in there, except some
clothes - what I'm
                 wearing," said Hatfield, 20.

                 Weyers, 21, told his roommate the landlord had offered them a
place to stay -
                 and a break on the rent.

                 "For life?" Hatfield asked.

Doug Gordner, Life Safety Inspector
Ithaca College Campus Safety
Life Safety Division
101 Safety Building
Ithaca, New York 14850
(607)-274-1846
(607)-274-1868 (fax)
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Member:
National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA)
International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI)