LITTLETON, Colo. — The city inspected the home near Mineral Avenue and Santa Fe Drive in 2012 and decided it was so “unsanitary, filthy, dilapidated and unsafe” that nobody was allowed to be in it.
Seven years and many public meetings later, the home still isn’t up to code and the city planned on making a decision on potential demolition on Wednesday.
But on Tuesday morning, the dilapidated home caught fire and the property owner, David Lynch, hasn’t been heard from.
“He scares me. I have a motion detector. I have a burglar alarm,” said Wendy Landin who’s been Lynch’s next-door neighbor since he moved in 19 years ago. She and her other neighbors woke up to flames shooting out the back of Lynch’s home. Landin ran outside, she said, fearing “that my house is going to be destroyed and I am going to die.”
Lynch spoke at the last public meeting about his property on January 16. There, he and several friends, including a local pastor, urged the city to consider giving him more time to complete repairs and get the house up to code.
An attorney representing the city at the meeting pointed out that Littleton has given him plenty of chances. A city inspector testified that water damage and rot ran through the home among other structural problems.
“Heavy accumulation of dog feces and urine. The odors were so extreme, the ammonia was so strong, that on our posting there was a warning to not enter without protective gear,” said Rebecca Thompson, code enforcement supervisor.
Landin says she understands the city’s desire to give Lynch extensions and a chance to keep his property. But she believes “he has played the city” and hopes that if he’s found to be the one who started the fire that the home gets demolished for good.
“When I testified against him on the 16th of January I said this is going to end one of three ways, he’s going to blow up the house, set it on fire or kill someone. He’s a hoarder. He’s not going to let you take that house from him,” she said.
Littleton Police haven’t been able to speak with Lynch but “aren't calling him a suspect at this point.”
The official cause of the fire is still under investigation by South Metro Fire Rescue.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Local stories from 9NEWS