One of my biggest fears of having a hoard in the house is a fire. Â Could you imagine not being able to get out of your house because of all the stuff? Â There was a house fire this weekend in Milwaukee that is making the headlines as The Hoarder House. Â Firefighters couldn’t open the front door because there were things packed in front of it. Â Then when they went to the back to get in, there were only small paths through the house. Â They said that things were packed up to the ceiling.
Here’s a link to the story about The Hoarder House fire. They are considering condemning the house.  They are only giving the residents 48 hours to clean up the outside and then they will decide the fate of the house after seeing the inside.
I’m really curious about the resident of the house. Â It said there was only one occupant. Or is that only one that was home at the time? Â I’m not sure. Â I wonder if the person is older or younger, male or female. Â I guess it doesn’t matter. Â Whoever it is, I wonder if they know they need some help. Â I wonder if there’s any family members or friends that could help.
My mom has a friend who has a hoard. Â I keep telling my mom to let her know that I would gladly come help her work on it. Â Her living conditions are getting dire and she needs help but she doesn’t want to let anything go. Â My mom has been trying for the past year to convince her that she needs to get rid of things with no avail.
She has filled up the entire house and now it needs repairs. Â She can’t use her kitchen sink anymore and now her water heater has broken. Â They can’t replace it if they can’t get to it. Â My mom said that her basement is full of desks. Â There are books stacked all the way up the walls through the whole house. Â There’s only small pathways through the hallways. Â The light bulbs burn out and she can’t replace them by herself because of all the books and other clutter.
My mom has all but given up trying to help her. Â She gets very frustrated because even though the friend’s house is full of thousands of books, she still goes to the Half Price Bookstore every week and buys more. Â She collects bunnies so if she sees anything with a bunny on it, she buys it. Â My mom has a Yorkie and so now the friend buys her anything she finds with Yorkies on it. Â My mom told her that just because she likes Yorkies doesn’t mean that she needs pillows, ornaments, calendars, and all that kind of stuff with the dogs on them.
I wish that I could find a way to help her. Â She won’t use a computer or a smartphone. Â I told my mom to keep asking her so we’ll see. Â When she realizes that she needs hot water, maybe she’ll let us in to help.
My mum is a hoarder… her house (and outside storage) is pretty full. She acquired an electronic organ some time ago, with the idea of playing it, but only myself and my niece ever played it (she has acquired other things like this that never get used)… the organ went bang recently while my niece was playing it, and smoke came out, pretty rock-and-roll I thought at the time, but as this Hoarder House illustrates, there was potential for worse – I’m tempted to e-mail my mum a link to that news article.
Yes, that might be a good idea. The latest update on the story is that the city is trying to have the house demolished so they are only giving the man 48 hours to get it cleaned up. It would take a hundred people working the entire 48 hours to get that accomplished. It’s very sad.
How sad, the one on the news, and your mom’s friend. Most people don’t realize hoarders are mentally ill. They do need help, as you know.
So glad you started working on your situation, so you wouldn’t end up like that!
I’m worried.. what if I don’t ever get a grip on this? Ugh.. that’s a scary thought that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.
Don’t worry! You ARE getting a grip! AS long as you keep going, y’all never be like that. They were mentally ill, and literally can’t get rid of stuff without help.
You just had a bunch of stuff, due to kids, etc!!
Take heart!
I hope that’s all it is. Somedays I wonder!
It definitely is, promise. True hoarders don’t just decide to declutter, they can’t. So, since you are, then you aren’t !
Ok I guess I feel better now đŸ™‚
Good!!
how terrifying… I wonder whether I will end up being a hoarder at my old age… i kind of think it may have something to do with letting go of the past, memories, or life as a whole.. it must be a scary feeling to let go….
I will start a new series of decluttering this weekend; I hope to make it a habit so that I will not end up like this in the future (I love to buy books too much myself…)
It’s a scary thought! All of it is – growing old as a hoarder, trying to get out of a burning house with way too much stuff in it, and socially not being able to let friends and family in.