Big fire near my place

[Ancalagon]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/08/16/ot-somerset-fire-070816.html

How near? the smell off smoke woke me up, that's how near.

There is a lot of people thinking the fire was set. Speculation are rampant that it's either gang related (that pool hall in there is the scumiest place i have ever seen - I wouldn't have stepped in for a 100$) or insurance related (real estate market is not too good, buildings are old, good spot of land....). Seeing how there were a lot of apartments on the upper floors, it could have been a carnage. This is the fourth fire in the area in the last 3 years.

Ancalagon

[Dawnstar]

That really sucks. I am sorry to hear this. I am glad that no one got seriously injuried in that fire.

[Atropine Mama]

Jeeezus, Anc. That's fucking scary. Any plans to move the fuck out of that area? :eek:

[Ancalagon]

Jeeezus, Anc. That's fucking scary. Any plans to move the fuck out of that area? :eek:

Yeah... remember when the cornerstone nearby got hit and I had to call the cops... twice? As soon as I can buy a house, I'm moving. And with the upcoming crash in the Canadian real estate market, I might be able to afford one sooner than later!

[Squash Cop]

Huh. We had a fire here today too.

Some grinder sparks landed on the tail of an airplane in the shop and it went up in big black clouds of smoke.

[Northcott]

Yeah... remember when the cornerstone nearby got hit and I had to call the cops... twice? As soon as I can buy a house, I'm moving. And with the upcoming crash in the Canadian real estate market, I might be able to afford one sooner than later!


Uh, man... don't be counting on that crash. I mean, it's logical, but common sense has been entirely absent from the real estate bubble thus far. We might be more likely to see a deflation rather than a crash. Though with what happened to the TSX today, the dollar, and talk of an upcoming recession in the USA and it's impact on us... well, it just may happen.

Me? I'd love to live in Prince Edward County, just south of Belleville, near Kingston. Between Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa. Gorgeous place, but the sudden flood of half-million dollar quasi-mansions from retiring Torontonians is fucking up the real estate prices in the area.

The plus side is that several are discovering they didn't really want to live in the country anyway. :D So the influx is slowing down, and I'm hoping prices will normalize.

[Ancalagon]

Uh, man... don't be counting on that crash. I mean, it's logical, but common sense has been entirely absent from the real estate bubble thus far. We might be more likely to see a deflation rather than a crash. Though with what happened to the TSX today, the dollar, and talk of an upcoming recession in the USA and it's impact on us... well, it just may happen.

Me? I'd love to live in Prince Edward County, just south of Belleville, near Kingston. Between Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa. Gorgeous place, but the sudden flood of half-million dollar quasi-mansions from retiring Torontonians is fucking up the real estate prices in the area.

The plus side is that several are discovering they didn't really want to live in the country anyway. :D So the influx is slowing down, and I'm hoping prices will normalize.

I hope your plans materialize :)

On my side... right now I have a substancial part of my money in a mutual fund - that is mostly in bonds (vs stock). Because of this, I'm not hit too hard by the upheaval, but I'm still wondering if I should take out my money now before I lose more, or if I should just ride it out - bonds might start doing very well soon.

Ancalagon

[Northcott]

Good luck with that, man. I hope you get out of that Hellhole soon.

[mollygrue]

no expertise in matters of hi-finance, but i commute in order to work near Flint Mich. .. & a younger family member who is investment minded has been buying houses--two bedroom houses with garages and basements and porches and yards--for as little as $3000. yup. that is correct $3000. and i am not talking about houses over on the "avenues" either.

he believes that a Renaissance is coming to Michigan, and that he is going to reap tremendous profits from this.


i am more pessimistic--i am seeing people in areas as far away as gladwin walking away from their houses and their mortgages--first clue the banks have is when they show up and find an unoccupied home. people in the flint area are leaving the houses, and the bulk of their contents and just driving away...

i remember michigans glory days when flint and detroit were automotive giants.....and this, this is scary...

thought for speculation: a recession is when the guy next door loses his house--a depression is when you lose yours.....

strange one doesnt see more coverage of this on the news...but im seeing i, hearing about it, every day. i dont know what you folks in canada are hearing--but things around here are not good.

id prepare for the worst--if it happens --youll be ready, and if it doesnt, youll be pleasantly suprised.

[Ancalagon]

no expertise in matters of hi-finance, but i commute in order to work near Flint Mich. .. & a younger family member who is investment minded has been buying houses--two bedroom houses with garages and basements and porches and yards--for as little as $3000. yup. that is correct $3000. and i am not talking about houses over on the "avenues" either.

he believes that a Renaissance is coming to Michigan, and that he is going to reap tremendous profits from this.


i am more pessimistic--i am seeing people in areas as far away as gladwin walking away from their houses and their mortgages--first clue the banks have is when they show up and find an unoccupied home. people in the flint area are leaving the houses, and the bulk of their contents and just driving away...

i remember michigans glory days when flint and detroit were automotive giants.....and this, this is scary...

thought for speculation: a recession is when the guy next door loses his house--a depression is when you lose yours.....

strange one doesnt see more coverage of this on the news...but im seeing i, hearing about it, every day. i dont know what you folks in canada are hearing--but things around here are not good.

id prepare for the worst--if it happens --youll be ready, and if it doesnt, youll be pleasantly suprised.

People just ... taking off? Damn

Although buying a few houses for 3 K a pop - sounds like a good idea to me if you can afford it. Worse case senario, you lose 3 K. But best case, they can easily increase in value by 10, 20, 30 fold... just the land has to be worth more than 3 grand!

[mollygrue]

yes, thats his grand plan. there are house also offered thru the various tax sales and such for minimum bids options---i have HEARD of tho not actually known personally of cases where the minimum bid of 25 $ secured the property. fliint is doing a lot of things with different proggrams--waving back taxes to new buyers who agree to maintain properties and so on. the house my daughter lives in was 3 k. --they were the only ones who put in a bid on the property -at a sale which offered houses with a 3k min. bid. they have since spent about 20 on plumbing, furnace, and flooring, but its easy to do that when buying any home. she had (fake) hardwood floors now--cause the place looked like they had been keeping pet goats in it so all capet had to go--but shes been there 3 years now and the only reason they are moving is that she is 81/2 mo pg with baby 3 and they need more room

anyway--yes--the property could increase in value tremendously--assuming of course that there is ANYONE who will want to buy it.

for those willing to risk it there are whole streets up for sale--and pretty much no restrictions how many properties you can buy as long as you commit to their possession. flint got in trouble awhile back for simply announcing it intended to start bulldozing abandoned and derelict houses--the fire hazards--the crack houses--& so on. it got rid of some of the worst places--whats left is decent family homes that folks working at the plants owned--then the plants shut down and left. and the guy bringing home 18-30 $ hour--was unemployed......and so empty houses.

[Ancalagon]

25$ for a house? :eek:

Jesus Christ, you could at least make a few hundred bucks by ripping out the copper piping and wiring!

This is madness...

[mollygrue]

25$ for a house? :eek:

Jesus Christ, you could at least make a few hundred bucks by ripping out the copper piping and wiring!

This is madness...
yes--it is ---and thats my point, really.

[Northcott]

strange one doesnt see more coverage of this on the news...but im seeing i, hearing about it, every day. i dont know what you folks in canada are hearing--but things around here are not good.

Not as bad... yet. I've been hearing about pocket areas in the USA where record bankrupcy and foreclosure numbers were dialed in years ago, and it's just spreading slowly from community to community. Up here the rules surrounding mortgages and financing are more strict, and the same wild lending policies never caught on. The average Canadian spends less and saves more than his or her US counterpart... but that said, I don't think it's enough.

We've been allowing our average debt load to grow faster than the economy, and in spite of more stringent home financing guidelines, there are still a huge number of people who are over-extended on their homes. The slightest financial misfortune will cost them dearly. Hell, even a rate hike could screw some folks over, who are depending on the ultra-low rates right now to be able to afford their homes. Shift that by even a couple percentage points, and they're in trouble.

Me? I want land. Enough land to grow food, if need be, and keep some animals. Then I'm going to sit on my porch with a shotgun and pick off travelling salesmen.

[mollygrue]

i like the way you think!

[Ancalagon]

I knew it.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/10/12/arson-chinatown.html


$2-million Chinatown fire was arson, investigators say
Last Updated: Friday, October 12, 2007 | 3:13 PM ET
CBC News

After a lengthy investigation, police and fire department officials have concluded that a major fire was deliberately set in Ottawa's Chinatown neighbourhood last August.

The fire destroyed several buildings at Somerset and Booth streets. It left 33 people homeless, and caused more than $2 million in damage.

The police arson section and the fire marshal's office worked together on the investigation and won't say what led them to decide that the fire was the work of an arsonist.

More than 60 firefighters battled the flames and dense smoke billowing out of the four-alarm blaze Aug. 16, in what fire department platoon chief Jim Corrigan called one of the biggest fires of the year.

Ottawa police admitted at the time the fire marshal would have a tough time figuring out what caused the fire.

Paramedics treated one person and three cats for minor respiratory problems at the scene, the Ottawa Paramedic Service said in a news release at the time. One firefighter was sent to hospital for a knee injury.

Two years before, right across the street, a fire at the Mekong Grocery killed five members of one family.

It should be noted that the second fire they mention was accidental... but there is another fire that happened in January that was never explained...


edit: heck, I didn't even hear about this one!

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=d81b1ec9-5732-48ea-b1e9-81b4d80a9fb7&k=92115