With fire-damage settlement, progress is being made in repairing DIGS home
After a five-month quibble over how much the insurance company would pay, the home for adults with developmental challenges could reopen as soon as mid-July.
After a five-month insurance dispute, work is underway on making the DIGS Inc. home for adults with developmental challenges livable again after a fire gutted it in October, according to Charles Schroeder, president of the nonprofit.
He said negotiations over how much the insurance provider would pay out after the fire, which is being investigated as arson, stalled due to the issue of replacing the air-conditioning unit — the insurance company didn’t want to replace it.
But with both parties eventually settling on
$156,000 — the original insurance estimate was roughly $30,000 less — for the repairs, progress is being made and the four displaced male residents could be back home at 30 Brook Valley Court by mid-July, Schroeder said. The residents are currently staying together at a nearby rental home, but are eagerly awaiting their return, he added.
Despite the struggle of recovering from the blaze, Schroeder said a “good thing” has come out of it.
The group has been given the opportunity to put to action the changes that come to mind when one thinks, “If I had to do it over again.”
As part of the repairs, vinyl floors will take the place of carpet in all areas of the home except for the bathrooms, which will be tiled; the caregivers’ quarters are going to become an activity room; and two residents will have access to their own bathrooms, while the other two will still have to share.
The fire-monitoring system is “the reason the house is still standing,” Schroeder said, as it alerted the fire department on that early October morning. However, the overall security system will be enhanced, with the addition of sensors on all windows and doors, and exterior cameras will be put up.
Schroeder said there is still a $10,000 reward through the state fire marshal’s office for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect in the arson case.
Mary Catherine Chewning, a fire inspector with the Rome-Floyd County Fire Department, said earlier this week that investigators are working two new leads. There is a new person of interest and more information has come in on a suspect investigators have already been looking into.
Schroeder said someone has to know who started the fire, and having them come forward with information is the best chance to find whoever is responsible.