Sometimes This Job Allows Us To See Inside the Lives of People…
People who suffer from debilitating mental illness that may have been hidden for decades.
Those who silently battle against the prison of their own minds can be baffling to outside observers. The mental disorder which causes hoarding behavior is one of those terribly sad, utterly confusing conditions.
How does a person find themselves in a home they can no longer walk through because of the amounts of trash and debris that cover the floors? How can a person continue to defecate in a toilet that had become a mountain of human waste and soiled toilet paper? Rarely are these questions answered and any relief at not being called to clean up a murder or suicide is short lived when the magnitude of the filth is realized.
ABT recently took a hoarding clean up job in Lake City, Florida that still sticks in my mind. Or rather, the smell still sticks in my nose.
When we entered the home, the first thing that hit me was the overpowering smell of human excrement and rotting trash. Turns out that the hoarder had been able to live beneath the radar for quite sometime, as was evident by the amount of empty soda bottles, microwave dinner trays, and other enormous piles of unidentified trash which choked the small trailer with noxious odors of the worst kind. Even as I write this, my stomach rolls at the memory. But recently, the inhabitant of this putrid place had fallen ill from a heart attack and the paramedics that responded had alerted the authorities who then alerted the landlord who called us in an absolute panic.
Times like this require thoroughly trained professionals in the remediation and decontamination of crime, accident and hoarding scenes. You do not not is it recommended that you attempt to clean the affected area, home or business on your own. Blood, urine, feces and other bodily fluids as well as trash and dangerous chemicals can pose serious health risks.
ABT is Certified by the EPA and OSHA
Aside from decomposing garbage, there was also an old fridge which sat in the corner. What drew my attention, however, was that the door was sealed shut with numerous layers of duck tape. After a path had been cleared, we were able to remove it to a predetermined spot outside where we began removing tape. What we found upon opening that door I will never forget… cats. Dozens and dozens of dead, refrigerated cats. The smell was enough to set me back on my heels and seriously question my choice of career. It was unreal. Apparently Jane Doe couldn’t let go of anything. Not even deceased pets.
But the horrors were not over. The sole bathroom was one of the most horrendous cleanup jobs I have ever seen… and that’s saying something. It looked like a scene out of silence of the lambs… There was literally a mountain of human feces and toilet paper that protruded upwards from the bowl of the toilet. How she even managed to get it that high is a mystery… Or how a human can choose to live in such disgusting conditions. Luckily, we are good at our jobs and we totally restored this trailer back to it previous condition. But only after some serious work. But this is the job I love.
Our 24/7 Cleanup Service Areas Include: Florida, Georgia, Washington DC, New York , Kentucky and other crime scene states.
If you need scene clean-up and decontamination guidance, have questions about your payment options, which clean up and decon procedures your current insurance policy covers or require our scene cleanup services immediately, don’t hesitate to give Advanced Bio Treatment a call at:800-295-1684
