San Diego

House Fire Aftermath Still Bothering Broadway Heights Neighbors

Residents on Laconia Street in the Broadway Heights neighborhood say the foul smell from the burnt lot is next to unbearable.

The charred remnants of a house fire that sparked more than a week and a half ago in southeast San Diego are still giving neighbors fits.

The fire sparked around 2:20 a.m. the morning of August 18 on the 2300 block of Laconia Street. It spread quickly and took the life of the homeowner’s 14-year-old service dog. She had left to pick up her son from the train station and returned to find her house decimated.

Residents on Laconia Street in the Broadway Heights neighborhood say the foul smell from the burnt lot is next to unbearable.

Robert and Barbara Robinson say it’s been 11 days since they’ve been able to breathe freely on their own backyard patio. They fear the fumes from next door may be toxic, and say an insurance adjustor and others have mentioned the possibility of asbestos being in the home.

"It’s a health thing man,” Robert said. “We’re in our 70s, we're seniors here. We worked all our life and we have to put up with this and they're dragging their feet and lying about when they’re going to come."

The Robinsons said they feel bad for their neighbor. They said they wrote her a $500 check to help with immediate living costs, but they've been sorely disappointed by the lack of cleanup progress.

They say they haven't been able to get any answers from their neighbor or Farmers Insurance.

The Robinsons also filed a claim with the city of San Diego's Code Enforcement Division hoping for some help to force an expedited cleanup based on their health concerns, but they haven't heard back from the city.

A spokesperson for Farmers confirmed to NBC 7 Wednesday the company is aware of the problem and is working to get it cleaned up as soon as possible. The city Code Enforcement Division said it just received a claim about the property two days ago and said the case has been assigned.

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