How a couple from Texas effectively left home
What to do if your house is considered life-threatening, as it practically hangs over a cliff? "Demolish," many will think. "Burn it," his owners decided.
A married couple from Texas burned down their empty mansion dangerously hanging over a cliff on a 22-meter cliff near Lake Whitney. The house has an area of 371 sq. m. m hovered over Lake Whitney about 95 km from the town of Fort Worth, Texas. The house was confiscated, and the owners Denis and Robert Webb took out their belongings about two weeks ago. Debris from the cliff — and the $700,000 house disappeared into the lake water.
(34 photos in total)
1. The owners of the house Denis and Robert Webb decided to burn down the house.
2. "It's not often you see something so big falling apart right in front of your eyes," Denis said.
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4. "It's very hard — this house was special, I don't even know why, but it was special for me."
5. "We watched my life crumble," Robert added. "It's very difficult to watch this... sitting in the place where your yard once was."
6. First, the workers prepared for the planned house fire.
7. Then a crane drove into the garage of the house, and two workers later broke the windows of the house with this crane.
8. Some time later, workers were seen in the garage — they were disassembling it in parts.
9. They also put piles of hay in the garage so that the fire would flare up faster.
10. "The porch where you liked to sit on a chair and look at the lake. There is none of this."
11. "I wanted to leave the house to my grandchildren. This is too much of a blow for me."
12. The family says that they bought this house "in good faith", and they were told that it was possible to live in it.
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14. Tom Hemrick, Hill County Emergency Coordinator, says the Webb family decided to burn the house to the ground after consulting demolition experts and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
15. On the lawn you can see a touching inscription: "We are (the heart of) Nan and Dad."
16. The house was built in 2007.
17. Workers threw torches into the garage, and it was quickly engulfed by fire.
18. Soon the fire spread to the entire building.
19. Parts of the house fell off the cliff into the lake.
20. These debris started a small fire on the ground while a large column of smoke was rising from the house above.
21. Soon the fire "gnawed" a hole in the house.
22. A few hours later, the roof burned down and collapsed. Gradually, the walls of the first floor collapsed, leaving behind only charred remains.
23. A fire truck was on duty nearby. Just in case.
24. The burning house gradually fell into the lake.
25. The roof and the second floor have already burned out completely.
26. In just a few hours, the luxurious mansion turned into a pile of charred junk.
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28. The fire continues to rage at the place where the Webb family used to live.
29. Soon there was practically nothing left of the house.
30. Part of the rear wing is still standing.
31. What a contrast!
32. The outer wall falls…
33. Onlookers watched the spectacle to the end.
34. The house, unfortunately, had to be demolished — it was considered uninhabitable, because it stood on the very edge of the cliff and could collapse at any moment.