“I worked too hard for this. I'm prepared to die in my house.”

[Herman Munster]

I don't understand people like this. How can a house be more important than your life?

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20071023-1844-bn23harris.html

Wilfredo Radoc, 52, hosed down his white stucco home in San Miguel Ranch on Monday morning. Despite the mandatory order, he refused to leave the 2-year-old house.

“I want to protect my house,” said Radoc, a senior cook for the George F. Bailey Detention Center. “I worked too hard for this. I'm prepared to die in my house.”

[soothsayer]

1. He should have just bought that foam from that dude they show on CNN

all the time and then gotten the heck out of there. That's a bizarre attitude to me, but I sure hope he doesn't die in his house.

[monktonman]

2. Reminds of the people who wont give the mugger the cash. n/t

[liberalmuse]

10. I wish him all the best.

It's not really about things. It's about standing up for what you feel is right, or what you've invested your life in. A house is something that holds the energy of hard work, dreams, family and memories. If you put all that into something, it is a part of you. Too many people don't have anything to die for, or live for, for that matter. Maybe most of us would get the hell out of there, but I respect that some people are willing to stay and fight and die for what matters to them. I hope he wins his fight.

[monktonman]

13. Yes, home is part of me

So is my leg but I'd cut it off if I thought it was gonna kill all of me.

[Turbineguy]

3. People do that.

They always have. It's taking a stand.

[tabasco]

4. A man's home is his castle.

I understand this man.

I also understand the old boy who lived by Spirit Lake and didn't leave.

[ellie]

5. I was just thinking

about him and all of his cats.

[Benhurst]

7. Yeah, Harry Truman by name. But he was way up in his eighties

if I remember correctly. His wife had died. They had spent their lives there.

And he did stay. And he did die there.

I can understand his not wanting to "start over."

But at 52? That's too young.

[SparkyMac]

36. Ol' Harry wouldn't even let his cats leave

I suppose he and he cats are still up there -- under a hundred tons of lava. That was tragic ... for the cats.

[Sukie1941]

6. Uh-oh, I am getting pissed

One of the two people who are reported dead refused to leave his home.

So be it.

What really angers me by this attitude is, as is being reported in the news, trying to get these IDIOTS out of their homes takes up the time of the fire personnel who should be fighting the fires!

I live where we have forest fires....to the south and north of me are foothills that have burned a number of times.....I always keep my three cat kennels close by in order to stuff the cats in and get the hell out of Dodge.

Besides, if my RV burns, I get a new one.

[hatrack]

And if some firefighters get killed trying to pull you out of your house . . .

Then what? Hope it's worth it, Big Guy!

:eyes:

[pitohui]

11. this "big guy" is a cook at a jail, this is all he has, all he will ever have

why should he leave and then take shit forever from society when he is homeless? we've all seen how the katrina victims were treated

i don't judge him one bit for not wanting to leave his home

we are not talking some multi millionaire here just being stubborn because his private jet wouldn't start

[dysfunctional press]

22. he should consider getting some homeowner's insurance.

seeing as the house is only 2 years old, it can probably be rebuilt nearly identical should it burn.

[kineneb]

27. he probably has insurance

any new house with a loan has to have insurance

he probably is depressed over the thought of having to go through the whole think again... think of his reaction more as a form of a suicide pact... if he and the house survive, then he goes on with his life, if the house burns, he would rather go with it...

going through buying a house or having one rebuilt is extremely stressful, perhaps he just cannot face the thought...

[pitohui]

29. the insurance payment on a new house goes to the bank!

i was lucky that by the first time i was in a natural disaster with serious damage, i had already paid off my home, however, when your note is held by the bank or lender, then they get the $$$ and you have to hassle with them over the repairs

and no i am not kidding

plus the deductible, plus all the stuff insurance doesn't cover ranging from shrubs and trees to jewelry and cash in the case of my homeowner's policy

i never got a dime for any contents, just for the house itself, altho in theory my contents are insured, so...

i dunno, people get tired, you know? and if they are too close to the edge, that few thousand dollars that is not covered by the insurer, it's just overwhelming to them

i'm not saying it's right, i'm saying that's the way it is, a lot of people are so close to the edge and they have a tiny dream of making something of themselves and then it's snatched away, well, they just can't go on

[Marrah_G]

38. I will tell you why

Because if there is a human life at risk...even if he CHOSE to stay, firefighters are REQUIRED to try and save him. Is his house worth THEIR lives also?

I'm sorry his house is in danger, I really, really am. I understand his feelings, but he needs to consider other people. HUman life trumps material possessions.

[RB TexLa]

20. They don't do anything for you if you choose to stay after a mandatory evacuation

[SmokingJacket]

41. That's the thing that matters.

He should have a right to die however he wants, but since someone's going to be risking their lives for his, he needs to be less selfish.

[pitohui]

8. because he's too old to start over and this country is hateful to poor old people

being from new orleans i don't blame him one bit

sometimes you just CAN'T start over, it isn't worth living if you are to see an entire lifetime of effort, several decades of work, vanished in a moment

if he was 22, sure, get out, declare bankrupty start over, but at 52 -- the reality is that age discrimination is real, your chances of being able to start over are soo small, to some people it just isn't worth it

after katrina many survived the storm only to commit suicide when they realized what they faced

in a capitalist country you are judged on what you have financially and some people just can't go on in the face of being hated for being a victim and being reduced to nothing financially

i don't make any judgment about those who decided that they just couldn't take any more, hell, i cry when it rains, who am i to judge anyone?

[Gormy Cuss]

12. I agree with you on this.

It shouldn't be that way but it is. Starting over in your 50s is a hard row to hoe.

[MadMaddie]

17. Banktruptcy is not even an option for many now...

This administration has made it almost impossible for most Americans to recover from a catastropic event, whether it is health or natural disaster.

[malaise]

37. Ditto

People do have the right to make their own decisions.

[Generic Brad]

9. I don't get that attachment to things either

While I understand the desire to protect a person's property, there comes a time when a person needs to cut their losses and save themselves. He must have something else going on in his life that is preventing him from letting go.

[RB TexLa]

14. It's their choice. There are many things people feel are worth dying for.

[Fresh_Start]

15. I understand. I just don't agree

this thought process endangers the greater community because the firefighters are trying to save fools like this when they could be making progress suppressing the overall fire and thus the greater community.

[tired_old_fireman]

16. I wouldn't stay if it were my house.

The only way I might stay is if I was wearing fire retardent gear, had a fire retardent tent and if there was a large body of water very nearby. I worked with a man who was overrun by a fire had burns on 60% of his body while six people died on his crew. No property is worth that suffering.

[Mountainman]

18. Any of us could be in a similar situation some day. We make the call and the world judges us by

their standards and the codes they have set up for themselves to live by. We don't all march to the same drummer and that's a good thing.

[ContraBass Black]

19. For someone without friends, family, or a more promising alternative,

The house that represents a lifetime of work and memories can be more precious than living after the loss of it.

[lpbk2713]

21. I am not prepared to judge what someone has decided they are willing to die for.

Maybe you or I would not consider the same course of action but I don't think I am qualified to make a call on what someone else may hold as an ultimate priority.

[dysfunctional press]

23. i am.

hasn't that moran ever heard of homeowner's insurance?

[Wiley50]

24. I spent a weekend in jail years ago

and I remember distinctly thinking

that the person who prepared the food

ought to be shot.

I'm being facetious, of course

and i hope the guy survives along with his house.

[tuckessee]

25. Good for him.

I wish him well.

[NutmegYankee]

26. Everyone has a point in which they will stand up and refuse to back down.

Hell, many of us here have taken oaths to defend this nation to the death, oaths that are taken seriously. People are different, and so are their limits.

[tinrobot]

28. Could be his retirement going up in smoke.

I don't get the attachment to things, either, but on second thought - a lot of people have all their money tied up in home equity... the house could represent the money he needs to live out the rest of his life comfortably.

[Xenotime]

31. Somebody told me once Equity = Dead Money

[tinrobot]

32. Probably a mortgage broker told you that...

They love selling you back your equity for a percentage.

[nonconformist]

30. Maybe that's all he has.

[misanthrope]

33. Considering how exorbitantly overpriced real estate in SoCal is...

...I can appreciate his predicament. I don't agree, just understand.

[Omphaloskepsis]

39. The land is expensive.. The actual house is probably really cheap.

And the lot is still his after the fire. For example: My sister bought a house for 400K last year. It is a shitty house on .5 acres. The house could easily be rebuilt for under 100k. The actual house is minor when it comes to the value of the property.

[Zhade]

34. Maybe it's desperation. It's not like he'll get another house.

Not in this economy.

[Beerboy]

35. Oh well. n/t.

[Buns_of_Fire]

40. He drew his line in the sand. I wish him well and good luck.

And FWIW, "mandatory evacuations" seldom mean they'll drag you out of your house, kicking and screaming, if you refuse to evacuate. It's more a nice way of saying, "Fine. You're on your own, then."

[lonestarnot]

42. They "are" their house.

Sad indeed.

[greguganus]

43. He's only been in the house for 2 years?

Not too many memories built up there, and he has insurance unless it's paid for, and seems he has time to remove anything important to him.
I tried to get my elderly parents to come stay with me when Hurricane Fran was going to hit, but they refused to leave their house they had lived in for 50 years. When Fran hit, several trees went through their roof into the house, and they still refused to leave! They slept through the whole thing. All I could do for them was to hook up a generator and supply them with food and water until power was restored a week later.