Georgia Woman Freed From Trash-Filled Home After 45-Minute Rescue

Georgia Woman Freed From Trash-Filled Home After 45-Minute Rescue

www.foxnews.com

Emergency crews took nearly 45 minutes to reach a woman buried inside her garbage-filled Georgia home on Tuesday, MyFoxAtlanta.com reported.

Investigators said that the home smelled like a garbage dump. Mildew-covered cars sat outside the home and boxes of food were stacked on the front porch.

Crews wore protective gear before entering the home and were decontaminated after exiting due to health concerns.

(visit the link for the full news article)

How on earth could someone let their house get so trashy, that they would need to be rescued from it? I used to think that my room was trashed back in college but I certainly never needed to be rescued by first responders. Jeez, I couldn't imagine how filthy it would have to be.

I'm all for liberty and if someone wants to live in filth, then that's their choice, however you can't expect to be rescued because then, your filth is effecting others. In fact, if your filth is bad you need to be rescued, then I'm sure that it is affecting others, irregardless of the rescue.

--airspoon

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 6/24/2010 by defcon5]

Its possible she either has mental health problems or may be elderly and unable to care for herself.. and has nobody to help her. Quite sad actually that people dont take time to know their neighbors and help each other more... Would prevent alot of these type cases if people showed more compassion for each other would be prevented or not happen..

reply to post by airspoon


Hey Air spoon,

Did you see the photos? At the bottom of the link you posted there is a link that goes to the Myadlantafox web site.

www.myfoxatlanta.com

Those photos show nothing all that bad, hell the car did not even look all that dirty and they have another photo of some boxes, but nothing all that bad at all.

The interesting thing about this is the comments left on the site with the photos....

All the comments make hoarders look like crazy nuts who should be put in a mental institution.

Take a look at the comments and see for yourself. It's all anti-hording stuff.

Call me a crazy hoarder but I think this is a Anti-hording propaganda campaign.

There are already laws saying you can not store more than 2 weeks of food in some states, if I had to guess I'd say news reports like this one are gearing people up to accept the idea of Warrens for the inspection of hording an accepted thing.

reply to post by Izarith


I did see those photos and they did not show the house or inside the house. The only thing the photos showed, was the driveway and a piece of the yard. Also, as I said in the OP, I could care less whether someone is a hoarder or even filthy, however to need to be rescued and for it to take 45 minutes, is absolutely incredible. If what the first responders say is accurate, then the smell must have been horrible, thus it most likely affected the neighbors. As defcon5 pointed out, it could have been an elderly person, but I'm still confused as to how even an elderly person could allow it to become so bad.

If all this was just a big much to do about nothing, and the filth didn't affect anyone else, then I surely don't agree with condemning the home, however that's a little hard for me to believe if the woman needed to call 9/11 (if in fact that's what happened).


reply to post by defcon5


Even if it was an elderly person, it's hard for me to believe that they wouldn't notice filth piling up in their own home, or not be able to do anything about it. Unless the person/s were senile, then it just doesn't make sense to me.

If they were just elderly and didn't have the physical stamina to clean, then they wouldn't have had the physical stamina to consume in the first place, right? If that was the case, then someone would have needed to "supply" the person with the perishables to create the filth in the first place. So, it is either the "victim's" fault, o it was the fault of the enabler or "supplier". If it was an enabler, then this person needs the toughest penalty their is. Could you imagine, being up to your ears in filth, especially an elderly senile person? The cockroaches, rats and insects of every type, I'm sure were swarming the place, if it was as bad as made out to be by the rescuers. Regardless of fault, it must have been a horrible experience.

--airspoon

reply to post by airspoon


I don't know man,

This article smells fishy to me, I consider myself a very comprehensive reader and judging from what the article actually says there is no evidence at all that this woman had a dirty house aside from the testimony from the emergency personnel.

They don't even state what the call was over aside from calling it a..."Medical call"

Emergency crews were called to a home on Kitty Hawk Drive, near Roswell Road for a medical call

That could be anything...

Why would the Code enforcement officers need to enter the house to make their assessment if it was so filthy the....

Due to the unsanitary conditions inside the home, crews wore protective gear. Once outside, the emergency workers were decontaminated because of health concerns.

Couldn't the Officers just take a quick look inside if the house was that disgustingly dirty?

And the only place where they mention any trash is when they reference the out side of the home, when it come to the inside they only say the words "Unsanitary conditions".

Yet there are only two photos of trash outside the home...

A "Medical call" could be anything, there is very little evidence that the trash outside the home was "chest high" and the Code Enforcement Officers were not even permitted to take a quick peek inside to see if the house was indeed in such an "unsanitary condition" that it required to be condemned.

Also 45 minutes to Dig her out? It could have possibly taken emergency responders that long to get the door open.

The "Protective gear" they had to wear could have been their standard issue medical gloves.

The "decontamination" the emergency guys had to do could mean they had to wash their hands.

This story is clearly written for people who don't understand what they are reading IMO.

This story does not add up to what it is trying to portray at all. It does not make sense.

I'd say the city had it out for this lady because she was an eyesore and made a big deal over nothing to get the house condemned.

That's just my 2 cents tho.

[edit on 24-6-2010 by Izarith]

You know, I don't care what the situation is in her home, I think it's an invasion of privacy for them to have published this article.

They gave enough information about her address that people can find her and go there and judge her. Irresponsible. I think they put her in danger.

I also don't see how this is "news" at all. It's really none of anyone's business. She didn't break any laws in calling for help...so what if she got a "citation" for exterior mess...so WHAT?

So what if emergency responders thought it was mess or smelled bad. That's a judgment call, and it's not theirs to judge or be telling people about. There should be a confidentiality thing with medical first responders just as there is with doctors and lawyers.

What are emergency responders going to next refuse to go into messy homes? Do they want to discourage people from calliing them if they have to face something that's in their eyes horrible?

The more I think about this, the more it pisses me off. I don't believe in frivolous lawsuits, but if I were this woman, I'd sure the hell out of them.



[edit on 24-6-2010 by ~Lucidity]

This could have also been a relative that wanted her deemed incapable of caring for herself so they could take control of her estate.

It isn't always easy to prove but sometimes people get things done with the help of friends in low places (government).

Will we sometime in the near future have to bury our disaster supplies?
Sure hope it doesn't come to that. It is an absurd thought to me.

Be ever vigil and keep your eyes on what's going down.

Peace

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Of course it's news. For one thing, smell is only subjective to a certain extent. After it passes a threshold, it becomes offensive. Also, the insects, rats and diseases bread in filth, if it gets so bad, could be a concern for immediate neighbors. Also, what if this person was a senile elderly person, who was neglected?

When a house becomes condemned, it is the public's business. For one thing, you deserve to know if a certain structure or property is dangerous. Another thing is, you don't want to be ripped off by purchasing a house that has been in such a condition. There are reasons why they nail those orange or otherwise bright colored signs on the door/yard.

Often, I don't agree with all of these state agencies given the right to dictate our personal lives and for the most part, I think it is all anti-liberty BS designed to initiate force against us. However, health hazards to the public because of someone else's actions need to have the proper force applied back. This was somebody's fault, whether it was the victim herself or a caretaker guilty of neglect and that somebody needs to be responsible. If this was a case of neglect (of the elderly) then it is a real victim producing crime, however if it just a nuisance and caused no harm, then it just needs to be taken care of. Either way, it needs to be addressed.

--airspoon




[edit on 24-6-2010 by airspoon]

reply to post by airspoon


My daughter told me of a friend who had an elderly family member who was a violent and abusive hermit who had cut herself off from all contact with the outside world right up to the moment that outside world had to cut their way into her rubbish packed house to free her body from the accumulated filth that had fallen over and killed her.

She told me this last week (or the week before) and I was shocked enough to whistle in shock.

I think this stuff happens quite often!


[edit on 24-6-2010 by SmokeJaguar67]