Family awaits word on sinking home

LINCOLN – Timely work by firefighters and town officials and a great many contributions from residents have helped, but a town family remained uncertain Tuesday whether it could salvage its sinking West Broadway home.

An engineer and insurance adjuster from Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. were due to tell Jaimi Cole and her family whether their insurance would cover costs to fix their home’s cracked and sinking foundation.

“It’s not going to happen without money to do it, so we’re still waiting on the insurance company,” Cole said Tuesday. “They are working really hard on it. Hopefully by this time tomorrow night we will know something. We are still sort of up in the air as to what to do with the house.”

Heavy rains and mud flow around their house last Tuesday helped crack and bow the east side of the cement foundation, forcing firefighters to condemn the one-story wood frame structure. Rushing water flooded the dirt-floor basement, the mud along 40 feet of the front of the house had sunk as much as 3 feet, and the foundation was pushing a large oil tank toward the center of the basement.

By Friday, the house had clearly shifted and one wall was being held up by the tank. The walls and foundation along the opposite side of the house near a rear door also had started to crack and bow. Six people have been left to seek shelter at a town motel.

The engineer predicted the repairs would cost $40,000 and pointed out that the foundation had so many structural defects that its collapse was inevitable, Cole said.

The tank worries Lincoln Fire Chief Joshua L. Williams and presents a tricky problem: If the house collapses, it could crush the tank and could cause environmental problems, with the house less than 800 feet from the Penobscot River. If workers drain it, the foundation will collapse unless the foundation is significantly reinforced.

“It’s a fixable problem, though. It definitely is,” Williams said.

Williams and engineers Rick Smart and Chad Seelye visited the house Saturday and helped the Coles remove clothing, medical equipment, food and other light personal belongings. Williams worked with insurance adjusters and the Red Cross, and checked with the family almost daily, he said.

Town officials also have been connecting the Coles with state agencies who have extended their stay at the motel until Dec. 8 and offered to help them secure loans and other relief funds to pay for the repair work and other expenses, Town Manager Glenn Aho said.

The Coles have been looking for a place to rent and are collecting donated items through their church, the Community Evangel Temple. The flood of items and money has left the family deeply grateful, said Amanda Cleary, Jaimi’s sister.

“We’ve been getting things from the whole state, from top to bottom,” she said.

Anyone wanting to help the family can send donations to their church, the Community Evangel Temple, Access Road, Lincoln 04457, or to the Cole family at P.O. Box 835, Lincoln 04457.