Increased Risk of Fire
The accumulation of combustible
materials, such as newspapers,
clothing and rubbish, can pose a
severe fire hazard. The amount of
combustible materials creates an
extremely hot, fast-spreading fire
that is difficult to suppress.
Escaping the home in a fire can be
impossible due to blocked hallways,
doorways and windows. In addition,
public safety personnel’s access to
the home can be hampered or blocked.
Increased Risk of Structural Damage
The weight and volume of hoarded
items, often stacked from floor to
ceiling, can cause structural
damage, which threatens the
occupants as well as adjacent
buildings.
Increased Risk of Disease, Injury
and Infestation
The storage of hoarded items makes
cleaning nearly impossible, which
can lead to unsanitary living
conditions and increases the risk of
disease. The lack of regular home
maintenance can result in the loss
of running water, heat or
refrigeration. Toilets and sinks may
be unusable or inaccessible.
Hoarding also increases the risk of
injury. Stacked items can fall on
someone, or they can cause people to
trip and fall. Accumulated garbage
can lead to rat and insect
infestations.
Hoarding creates hazardous
conditions that can increase the
risk of fire; structural damage to
the home; and disease or injury to
the hoarder, other household
members, neighbors and the
community. Extensive storage of
items in the home severely limits
the hoarder’s day-to-day
functioning.
Hoarding is not just a cluttered
home or an extensive set of
collectibles. Hoarding is the
excessive storage of items in and
around the home, to the extent that
all available space from floor to
ceiling may be occupied.
Hoarders keep an extreme,
disproportionate collection of
items, such as newspapers,
magazines, empty containers, old
clothing, paper, trash, rotting
food, and sometimes animals.
Hoarders become emotionally attached
to everything. They are unable to
distinguish trash from treasures.
Hoarding “feels right” to the
hoarder, in spite of health and
safety consequences.
