Work should begin soon to tear down charred home

Work to clean up the Hastings house destroyed by fire in April should begin this week.

The home, located at the intersection of Pleasant Drive and 17th Street West, caught fire after a faulty power inverter box started a fire in a camper parked outside.

Homeowners Nolan and Jean Appert have since relocated their family of four to a rental house a few blocks away. Meanwhile, insurance adjusters and representatives from the company that manufactured the camper and the one that built the inverter box have met. They were on scene Monday to review the damage. Once they come to an agreement, the house can be leveled and work can begin on a new one.

“I’m ready for it,” Jean Appert said. “I’m anxious for teardown. I’m tired of looking at that eyesore.”

The family has heard conflicting reports on how long it will take to build a new home. Appert said she’s certain they’ll be in by Christmas, and she’s setting that as the goal. Any quicker than that will be a bonus, she said.

Most days, she and her husband pass by the home and get reminded of that awful Monday in April.

“It makes me sad to see it,”?she said. “I still get sad. I feel bad for my neighbors and everybody else who has to drive by there. I’m sure people are wondering why it is taking so long.”

Appert said the family was able to save many of the photographs it had collected over the years. Some of their clothes were able to be saved, and a few antique vases given as gifts from her grandmother were able to be saved. Firefighters handed those vases to her through a charred window, she said.

The outpouring of support from the community since the fire has stunned the family.

“I think it has given us all a different outlook on life,” Appert said. “It makes you realize that it’s the little things that are the big things. It’s easy to take a lot of the little things for granted. We’re all four still living here and we all get to rebuild the home together. We’re not missing any of our family members.”

The two dogs rescued in the blaze are both faring well, Appert said.

Tags: news, hastings, minnesota, spiral, local, home, may