A saddening event transpired on 14th of May 2013 when a house burned down in Honister Place, Newton Aycliffe. Upon the arrival of the fire rescue team, neighbors of the departed, Ann Bradshaw, forewarned the firemen how it will be difficult to get inside because of the owner’s hoarding disorder.
True to their words, it took half an hour to get inside and find the now-deceased due to the fact that the house was full of clutters without enough space to crawl to. Had there been no hoarding involved, the pensioner could have been rescued, insiders reported.
Since the incident, Coroner Andrew Tweddle is asking for more help to address hoarding and the dangers it poses. “The conditions were quite extreme on a number of levels,” he said. “The physical state of the property with the amount of stuff is quite staggering and made the job of the firefighters quite difficult and dangerous.”
Full details of this tragic event can be read here.
