October 3, 2007
Cape Gazette
Afternoon Fire Destroys home in Pot-Nets Community
By Kevin Spence
A Friday afternoon fire that destroyed one manufactured home and melted the siding off three others nearby remains under investigation.
No cause of the fire in the Long Neck community of Bayside has yet been determined, said Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Randall Lee. The fire appears to have started from the corner of the home, causing an estimated $10,000 in damage, he said.
Animosity and tension are running high in several of the state’s manufactured home communities, where some homeowners, including the former owner of the home that burned down, say they have had to leave their homes because they could not pay steep increases in land rent.
At a Sept. 24 manufactured homeowners meeting in Oak Orchard, Speaker of the House Terry Spence pledged to step down from office if two pieces of legislation designed to protect manufactured homeowners were not fully debated. Spence also demanded that members of a manufactured home subcommittee issue a public apology to manufactured homeowners after what the homeowners said was a contentious meeting with legislators in June.
The three-bedroom manufactured home, formerly owned by Ruth Ann MacFarland, had been turned over to Tunnell Properties July 8, after MacFarland failed to pay $4,000 in overdue lot rent.
“Even though I don’t own it now, it was my house for quite a while. It was devastating. I’m also grateful that my family and dogs weren’t there,” said MacFarland.
MacFarland, who was interviewed in a Friday, Sept. 28 Cape Gazette article on displaced manufactured homeowners, said the home was built in the 1970s. MacFarland’s son, Warren, said that in July, electricity to the residence was shut off and propane tanks were removed.
“According to witnesses, the house just exploded into flames. The heat from the flames melted a trash can 30 feet away. It melted the siding off three houses that surround the house,” Warren said.
Bayside resident Jim Petruzella, who lives three blocks from the site, said he passed the home five minutes before the fire started.
“There was no one around,” he said. After a friend called, Petruzella said he saw black smoke.
Skirting had been removed from the house, which was in the process of being demolished. “To me, it looks like it had to be arson,” said Petruzella.
Pot-Nets Homeowners Association President Wendy Simmons said, “We hate to see anything be destroyed in the park. We’re working toward a common goal of making it a better community for all. It saddened me to see it go. What happened and how it happened, I haven’t a clue.”
Simmons, who lives six blocks from the rubble, said, “It’s a total destruction. It’s totally down.”
Bobbie Hemmerich, president of the Lewes manufactured home community McNicol Place, said, “The tensions and pressure on people at this point is just dreadful. So many people just look at what happened to MacFarland and say that could be me tomorrow.”
Barbara Lifflander, a displaced Pot-Nets homeowner and unsuccessful candidate for state representative in 2004 and 2006, is also a former Pot-Nets board member. “I smell politics around this thing. I would not be surprised that it was a suspicious origin because of the strong sentiment against the Tunnell family in the surrounding area due to the abuses, which have been taking place for years now. It’s rapacious greed. Anything is possible,” she said.
Ed Speraw, president of the statewide homeowners association, said he has received roughly 30 emails asking him who insures the property. MacFarland said while she owned the unit, no carrier would insure her home because it was over 30 years old.
“I’m wondering if it was turned over to Tunnell? Did Tunnell insure this property? It’s a strange phenomenon,” said Speraw.
In response to Speraw’s statement, Rob Tunnell, co-owner of six Pot-Nets communities in Long Neck, said the residence was not insured, but he declined further comment.
“It’s still under investigation. The deputies are still working on it. They’ll go back down and do some interviews today. But, we don’t have any new information yet,” he said.
“It was a vacant property and utilities had been cut off. There wasn’t a whole lot of heat sources and perhaps something was brought in by somebody,” said Lee. In order to determine a reckless burning or arson, the intent of the person who may have caused the fire needs to be determined, said Lee.
MacFarland said, “I’d really like to know what happened because there was no electricity and propane there.”
Warren MacFarland suggested that residents contact Terry Spence. “He was at the meeting that my mom spoke at last week. Terry Spence needs to know what transpired five and a half hours after the paper came out Friday morning.”
Indian River Volunteer Fire Company responded to the fire at 26740 Starboard St. The Millsboro Fire Company and the Lewes Fire Department assisted in controlling the blaze.