How to Help a Hoarder Let Go Beginning the process of helping someone who’s life is affected by hoarding is no easy task. In a lot of situations, hoarding is less about keeping the items and more about the attachment they have to these items, whether it is sentimental or they “just might need it […]
Spring Cleaning – Organizing Tips
See Your Way Clear: Organizing tips from Jocelyn Kenner 1. Break down big jobs into manageable increments. Start by setting a timer for 15 minutes and stopping when time is up. If you have five minutes free, clean your car or organize your wallet. 2. Put on music to get yourself energized. 3. Reward yourself […]
What Is the Fear of Throwing Things Out?
Question: What Is the Fear of Throwing Things Out? Technically, the term “disposophobia” is a marketing term coined by a cleaning company in the mid 1990s to describe the fear of throwing things out. Regardless, compulsive hoarding can have disastrous effects on sufferers’ daily lives. Hoarding is sometimes a symptom compulsive disorder, or OCD, but may […]
Fire officials: Hoarding caused fatal Wayland fire
Fire officials: Hoarding caused fatal Wayland fire.
Canadian Researchers Examine Link Between Loved Ones and Their Influence on People Who Hoard
Newswise — People collect things all the time: books, newspapers, stamps. But when a casual hobby turns into an incessant need to hoard, it becomes a disorder that requires intervention. But how much of hoarders’ behaviours are influenced by their loved ones? Ryerson researchers are investigating these relationships in a new study looking at the […]
Tempe firefighters encounter hoarding during blaze
Tempe firefighters encounter hoarding during blaze
A fight with a house fire became a battle against debris Tuesday as Tempe firefighters encountered stacks of newspapers, boxes and aluminum cans at a two-story house on Farmer Avenue and 11th Street.
“We couldn’t get in there to fight the fire,” said Tempe Lt. Michael Reichling, a fire inspector. “Now the home is a total loss because of the (hoarding) condition.”
The 47-year old man who lived at the dwelling escaped the blaze, ignited by a space heater at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Reichling said.
“He had overloaded the house with combustible materials,” Reichling said. “Aluminum cans were stacked two to three feet deep. Cardboard, newspapers and 12-pack beer cases were smashed down and stacked to the ceiling. Our crews had to climb over this to get in. We had to evacuate and not do a search and rescue.”
Hoarding, often a mental condition in which people cannot let things go, has become increasingly common, Reichling said. In the last year, it has been a factor in about five fires, and emergency medical crews ran into hoarding about 100 times in 2012.
Tempe needs an ordinance that would allow firefighters to regulate what takes place inside homes, he said. That way people could be ordered to clear away fire hazards before a fire is ignited.
The Arizona Hoarding Task Force may be proposing such an ordinance, Reichling said.
“It is like any other mental condition. They can’t get rid of things. They have a problem of letting things go,” Reichling said.
Among tips to help control hoarding are learning to get past imperfections, understanding your fear and recognizing when fears are irrational.
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Eleven N.J. Firefighters Hurt in Blaze at Hoarder’s Home Most of the Passaic firefighters were injured while throwing out piles of heavy debris during the fire. The Associated Press Posted: Tue, 12/20/2011 – 11:32am Updated: Wed, 12/21/2011 – 08:31am http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1 PASSAIC, N.J. — A fire in the home of a New Jersey hoarder has killed […]