KAUKAUNA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Kaukauna home is damaged after a controlled burn, by the fire department, burns out of control. And now the homeowners are facing a large bill to fix it.
It was back on May 10, when at the city’s request, the Kaukauna Fire Department conducted its annual controlled burn of a plot of land on Fieldcrest Drive. Designated as a protected wetland, the controlled burn is done to get rid of invasive plants and dry vegetation.
According to Fire Chief Jake Carrel, “The interest the fire department has in it beside conducting the burn themselves is that we do reduce the risk of fire in case those were to burn in an uncontrolled manner, would certainly be extremely dangerous so we do our best to mitigate that risk by burning those off.”
The chief says the burn at the Fieldcrest property was delayed several times because of weather conditions. And despite those precautions and extra safety measures, things still got out of control.
He adds, “This was about 90 minutes into the burn. We intentionally did this one very slowly, but as you say, unfortunately the heat from that fire did rise to the corner of that home and damaged the siding.”
A large portion of siding, on the side exposed to the fire, melted.
“I don’t blame the fire department at all, they did their job, they handled it very well, made sure that we were safe. Did their best to contain it. It was out before I even knew it happened. It just, unfortunately things get out of control this year,” says homeowner Jaime Schmitt.
She says the fire department took responsibility and the city agreed to pay to have the siding replaced. But, when the estimates to repair the damage came in, according to Schmitt, the city’s attitude changed.
According to Schmitt, “Going through their insurance they did deem that they will only fix that side and the amount that they came in at was $3,900, depreciated it down to $3,000.”
Schmitt says the city’s insurance company’s offer doesn’t even cover the cost of the damage.
To make matter worse, the Schmitts learned the siding on their home is obsolete and the color is no longer available. So, unless they want their home to have mismatched siding, all of the material around the entire home, would need to be replaced.
The estimate for that job is about $15,000, $12,000 less than what the city was offering.
“If I had damaged someone’s house, I wouldn’t be able to fix it to how I wanted to or the cheapest option, anyone else would have to pay for the whole house,” says Schmitt. “We took the lowest bid, a contractor that was willing to work with us for a reasonable cost. So, we’re really trying to work with them but unfortunately the city just has not been helpful.”
Kaukauna Mayor Tony Penterman said he reached out to Jaime Schmitt, via email, to discuss her claim and the next steps to resolve the issue.
While Schmitt confirms she received that email she still thinks the city needs to pay to make her house whole again, adding, “At this point, I’ll do whatever I need to do to get my house back to normal. I just hope that they do what’s right.”
Jaime Schmitt says she and her husband don’t want to have to pursue legal action against the city, but they are currently weighing all of their options if a resolution can’t be reached.
