House Explosion in North Arlington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live a couple of blocks away and there was a very strong smell in the air last night after the explosion.

What kind of smell.

Quoted PP here, the smell was like what you experience after a major fireworks show is over. I didn't smell natural gas or anything (though, the smell probably wouldn't carry far from the house itself, what I was smelling was probably the charred remains of the house).

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in an area with lots of duplexes. We had one that had one side burn down and they rebuilt the one side. But obviously the other one was still there.

But i would think they could just rebuild half of it. Like this (different situation, but you can see it survives as half a house)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/09/08/dorchester-home-seeks-other-half/ZiuBnwzH63313rvQT1dIiJ/story.html

Interesting. I am guessing there is some sort of set back exemption for these lots since you build right up to the other person’s property line. Also, I would hope zoning would be flexible with this family if necessary.

Although part of me wonders if they want to go back at this point. It seems like a great location though (close to parks/trail/Ballston metro) and the market is tight. Aside from the schizophrenic neighbor it seems like a nice area to live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in the area and were told the suspect has tin foil covering his windows. Apparently the house was up for sale a few years ago but he also chased off potential buyers with a knife.

How the heck can someone’s mental health issues/danger to society be so obvious and yet we do nothing? Honestly this incident was a failure to this man as much as the surrounding neighbors. He clearly had paranoid delusions and was likely psychotic. Would have been better to stabilize him with medical treatment than deal with this fallout.

Yes, this is the current state of affairs with mental health, but it's been going on for decades, slowly getting worse. But while every person and every politician in the nation is lamenting the lack of access to mental health and lack of interventions, our lawmakers have been doing absolutely *nothing* about it, and meanwhile we sell everyone more and more weapons, because - it's not the guns!

Mental health access, and what can be done in accordance with the law as far as interventions go, is greatly diminished, while our nation has had an exponential increase in weapon ownership since the 2000s.


And yes, those were gun shots before the explosion. Kudos to our police and fire departments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I would never buy half of a duplex. Logistical nightmare.

That seems silly. So you would never buy a townhome or rowhouse? Because of a rare isolate incident with a crazy person? Do some research on the neighbors, and 99.99% of the time you will be fine. Don't buy a home adjacent to a house with covered up windows.

+1

Also, property owners are in the public record. Before making an offer, Google the people next to you to see if they post paranoid delusions.

Anyone with a mental illness should be put on a public watch-list, so home buyers can just google them, and avoid having to live near the mentally ill.

Agree.

I would not want any of those people in my neighborhood.

Do you even hear yourself? We do have something along the lines of basic civil rights left in this country. While I do agree that dangerous people should not be allowed to hurt others, I am NOT ok with the government creating watch lists of people who their neighbors have decided are a little "weird" so they must be dangerous. Was this man convicted of any crimes before yesterday? I bet not. So what are your grounds for "tracking" him? Putting crazy stuff on the internet? Half of DCUM would be on this list.

How about harassing federal officials, abusing public resources with frivolous lawsuits, and stalking/making threats against his neighbors. This wasn’t just a quirky homebody.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I would never buy half of a duplex. Logistical nightmare.

That seems silly. So you would never buy a townhome or rowhouse? Because of a rare isolate incident with a crazy person? Do some research on the neighbors, and 99.99% of the time you will be fine. Don't buy a home adjacent to a house with covered up windows.

+1

Also, property owners are in the public record. Before making an offer, Google the people next to you to see if they post paranoid delusions.

Anyone with a mental illness should be put on a public watch-list, so home buyers can just google them, and avoid having to live near the mentally ill.

Agree.

I would not want any of those people in my neighborhood.

Do you even hear yourself? We do have something along the lines of basic civil rights left in this country. While I do agree that dangerous people should not be allowed to hurt others, I am NOT ok with the government creating watch lists of people who their neighbors have decided are a little "weird" so they must be dangerous. Was this man convicted of any crimes before yesterday? I bet not. So what are your grounds for "tracking" him? Putting crazy stuff on the internet? Half of DCUM would be on this list.

How about harassing federal officials, abusing public resources with frivolous lawsuits, and stalking/making threats against his neighbors. This wasn’t just a quirky homebody.

There are a large number of people who do that. They are almost entirely non-violent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So the neighbor's house is gone as well?

It was a duplex! His side on the left, but the covered entrance has 2 doors to each unit. The side on the right with the snowman was the family living next door who he claimed was stalking him. Thank god he didn't just blow the place up while everyone was sleeping.

This was the neighbor’s house that was destroyed when both duplex halves exploded.

https://redf.in/w8Vv0v

I’m a PP upthread — I see now there are 2 entrances under the overhang. It was hard to tell from the video angle.

Wow it’s a really nicely updated duplex. Worth almost $1m! They bought in 2021 so they likely had a low rate. Does this mean they’ll have to get a new mortgage at a higher rate if they can’t rebuild and have to move or does the bank let it transfer.

That really screws them if they have to start all over in today’s market. They had only been there 2 years and probably thought they had a home for a while. Now they’re back out in this crap real estate market.

SO NOVA taking the talk straight to real estate value. SMH.

It’s a legit concern. I live in Arlington and also have young elementary kids. Through bad luck a family in my community is without a home and I know firsthand how hard it is to find a home you can afford to live in here. It’s totally unfair if they get displaced because of something like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I would never buy half of a duplex. Logistical nightmare.

That seems silly. So you would never buy a townhome or rowhouse? Because of a rare isolate incident with a crazy person? Do some research on the neighbors, and 99.99% of the time you will be fine. Don't buy a home adjacent to a house with covered up windows.

+1

Also, property owners are in the public record. Before making an offer, Google the people next to you to see if they post paranoid delusions.

Anyone with a mental illness should be put on a public watch-list, so home buyers can just google them, and avoid having to live near the mentally ill.

Agree.

I would not want any of those people in my neighborhood.

Do you even hear yourself? We do have something along the lines of basic civil rights left in this country. While I do agree that dangerous people should not be allowed to hurt others, I am NOT ok with the government creating watch lists of people who their neighbors have decided are a little "weird" so they must be dangerous. Was this man convicted of any crimes before yesterday? I bet not. So what are your grounds for "tracking" him? Putting crazy stuff on the internet? Half of DCUM would be on this list.

How about harassing federal officials, abusing public resources with frivolous lawsuits, and stalking/making threats against his neighbors. This wasn’t just a quirky homebody.

There are a large number of people who do that. They are almost entirely non-violent.

DP here. I have a neighbor like that, and everyone "yeses" him, because they know he is unstable, and just looking for a fight. He expects people to kowtow to him, and he very much acts like a dictator. He is older and has a family, but you would be surprised. Church is important to him. Not sure if he is violent or not, but he owns many guns, and people just stay out of his way. It's kind of a crappy way to live, God forbid you are on his radar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we need to breathe a collective sigh of relief that this person likely only hurt himself. This seems like the kind of person who would commit something on a mass scale that would have been MUCH MUCH worse. Society sitting around and doing nothing, allow these kind of sick people to accumulate so many dangerous weapons and harass people, but label it a mental health crisis, creat this.

I watched a paranoid schizophrenic kill someone he claimed was reading his mind. All the signs were there, prior outbursts, accumulating weapons, multiple threats. Yet no one did anything. That was 30 years ago.nothing changes. Thank god he didn’t take his angst up to Ballston Mall or the elementary school.

So much this, all of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in the area and were told the suspect has tin foil covering his windows. Apparently the house was up for sale a few years ago but he also chased off potential buyers with a knife.

How the heck can someone’s mental health issues/danger to society be so obvious and yet we do nothing? Honestly this incident was a failure to this man as much as the surrounding neighbors. He clearly had paranoid delusions and was likely psychotic. Would have been better to stabilize him with medical treatment than deal with this fallout.

Yes, this is the current state of affairs with mental health, but it's been going on for decades, slowly getting worse. But while every person and every politician in the nation is lamenting the lack of access to mental health and lack of interventions, our lawmakers have been doing absolutely *nothing* about it, and meanwhile we sell everyone more and more weapons, because - it's not the guns!

Mental health access, and what can be done in accordance with the law as far as interventions go, is greatly diminished, while our nation has had an exponential increase in weapon ownership since the 2000s.


And yes, those were gun shots before the explosion. Kudos to our police and fire departments.

It's not just availability of beds. There is a nonprofit waiting to sue any locality that would make involuntary commitment easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in the area and were told the suspect has tin foil covering his windows. Apparently the house was up for sale a few years ago but he also chased off potential buyers with a knife.

How the heck can someone’s mental health issues/danger to society be so obvious and yet we do nothing? Honestly this incident was a failure to this man as much as the surrounding neighbors. He clearly had paranoid delusions and was likely psychotic. Would have been better to stabilize him with medical treatment than deal with this fallout.

Yes, this is the current state of affairs with mental health, but it's been going on for decades, slowly getting worse. But while every person and every politician in the nation is lamenting the lack of access to mental health and lack of interventions, our lawmakers have been doing absolutely *nothing* about it, and meanwhile we sell everyone more and more weapons, because - it's not the guns!

Mental health access, and what can be done in accordance with the law as far as interventions go, is greatly diminished, while our nation has had an exponential increase in weapon ownership since the 2000s.


And yes, those were gun shots before the explosion. Kudos to our police and fire departments.

It's not just availability of beds. There is a nonprofit waiting to sue any locality that would make involuntary commitment easier.

Mental health access is a joke and just lips moving with no real substance to back it up - it's unaffordable for most people. Mental illness is still a stigma (look at some of the comments on this thread) and people who need help have to first recognize that they even need help. Plain and simple - you have to be an immediate threat to yourself or others before they will involuntarily treat you. And even that is temporary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in the area and were told the suspect has tin foil covering his windows. Apparently the house was up for sale a few years ago but he also chased off potential buyers with a knife.

How the heck can someone’s mental health issues/danger to society be so obvious and yet we do nothing? Honestly this incident was a failure to this man as much as the surrounding neighbors. He clearly had paranoid delusions and was likely psychotic. Would have been better to stabilize him with medical treatment than deal with this fallout.

Yes, this is the current state of affairs with mental health, but it's been going on for decades, slowly getting worse. But while every person and every politician in the nation is lamenting the lack of access to mental health and lack of interventions, our lawmakers have been doing absolutely *nothing* about it, and meanwhile we sell everyone more and more weapons, because - it's not the guns!

Mental health access, and what can be done in accordance with the law as far as interventions go, is greatly diminished, while our nation has had an exponential increase in weapon ownership since the 2000s.


And yes, those were gun shots before the explosion. Kudos to our police and fire departments.

It's not just availability of beds. There is a nonprofit waiting to sue any locality that would make involuntary commitment easier.

Mental health access is a joke and just lips moving with no real substance to back it up - it's unaffordable for most people. Mental illness is still a stigma (look at some of the comments on this thread) and people who need help have to first recognize that they even need help. Plain and simple - you have to be an immediate threat to yourself or others before they will involuntarily treat you. And even that is temporary.

How often have we been told housing first, so that the individual can work on their issues without fear of being homeless. That worked here, right? He sought treatment for his delusions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in the area and were told the suspect has tin foil covering his windows. Apparently the house was up for sale a few years ago but he also chased off potential buyers with a knife.

How the heck can someone’s mental health issues/danger to society be so obvious and yet we do nothing? Honestly this incident was a failure to this man as much as the surrounding neighbors. He clearly had paranoid delusions and was likely psychotic. Would have been better to stabilize him with medical treatment than deal with this fallout.

Yes, this is the current state of affairs with mental health, but it's been going on for decades, slowly getting worse. But while every person and every politician in the nation is lamenting the lack of access to mental health and lack of interventions, our lawmakers have been doing absolutely *nothing* about it, and meanwhile we sell everyone more and more weapons, because - it's not the guns!

Mental health access, and what can be done in accordance with the law as far as interventions go, is greatly diminished, while our nation has had an exponential increase in weapon ownership since the 2000s.


And yes, those were gun shots before the explosion. Kudos to our police and fire departments.

It's not just availability of beds. There is a nonprofit waiting to sue any locality that would make involuntary commitment easier.

Mental health access is a joke and just lips moving with no real substance to back it up - it's unaffordable for most people. Mental illness is still a stigma (look at some of the comments on this thread) and people who need help have to first recognize that they even need help. Plain and simple - you have to be an immediate threat to yourself or others before they will involuntarily treat you. And even that is temporary.

How often have we been told housing first, so that the individual can work on their issues without fear of being homeless. That worked here, right? He sought treatment for his delusions?

Having a home is not enough to help. Also, we have no proof he sought treatment. If he was schizophrenic, he likely did not recognize the need for help. Even if he did, compliance with taking the meds, going to therapy is low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I would never buy half of a duplex. Logistical nightmare.

That seems silly. So you would never buy a townhome or rowhouse? Because of a rare isolate incident with a crazy person? Do some research on the neighbors, and 99.99% of the time you will be fine. Don't buy a home adjacent to a house with covered up windows.

+1

Also, property owners are in the public record. Before making an offer, Google the people next to you to see if they post paranoid delusions.

Anyone with a mental illness should be put on a public watch-list, so home buyers can just google them, and avoid having to live near the mentally ill.

where do you draw the line? Do you include depression? ADHD? Tourette’s?

Also, what's to say the people living next to you aren't fine and then suddenly they have a psychotic break? Or they sell their house to someone who you aren't aware is mentally ill? This is a completely ridiculous and obviously implausible plan, even ignoring the fact that it's absurdly ableist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in the area and were told the suspect has tin foil covering his windows. Apparently the house was up for sale a few years ago but he also chased off potential buyers with a knife.

How the heck can someone’s mental health issues/danger to society be so obvious and yet we do nothing? Honestly this incident was a failure to this man as much as the surrounding neighbors. He clearly had paranoid delusions and was likely psychotic. Would have been better to stabilize him with medical treatment than deal with this fallout.

Yes, this is the current state of affairs with mental health, but it's been going on for decades, slowly getting worse. But while every person and every politician in the nation is lamenting the lack of access to mental health and lack of interventions, our lawmakers have been doing absolutely *nothing* about it, and meanwhile we sell everyone more and more weapons, because - it's not the guns!

Mental health access, and what can be done in accordance with the law as far as interventions go, is greatly diminished, while our nation has had an exponential increase in weapon ownership since the 2000s.


And yes, those were gun shots before the explosion. Kudos to our police and fire departments.

It's not just availability of beds. There is a nonprofit waiting to sue any locality that would make involuntary commitment easier.

Mental health access is a joke and just lips moving with no real substance to back it up - it's unaffordable for most people. Mental illness is still a stigma (look at some of the comments on this thread) and people who need help have to first recognize that they even need help. Plain and simple - you have to be an immediate threat to yourself or others before they will involuntarily treat you. And even that is temporary.

How often have we been told housing first, so that the individual can work on their issues without fear of being homeless. That worked here, right? He sought treatment for his delusions?

Having a home is not enough to help. Also, we have no proof he sought treatment. If he was schizophrenic, he likely did not recognize the need for help. Even if he did, compliance with taking the meds, going to therapy is low.

Housing First doesn't require you to receive treatment. You just tell the case worker no thanks, once a month. Assuming they don't chase you off with a knife, I guess.