Investigators continue to search through the rubble of an
Ashland Circle home that burned to the ground Wednesday morning,
looking for clues on what may have happened. on has developed leads
and investigators continue to keep all possibilities open, said
Richard Peterson, a fire investigator for Fire Cause Analysis,
representing the house’s insurance company.
Investigators continue to search through the rubble of an Ashland Circle home that burned to the ground Wednesday morning, looking for clues on what may have happened.
So far, the investigation has developed leads and investigators continue to keep all possibilities open, said Richard Peterson, a fire investigator for Fire Cause Analysis, representing the house’s insurance company. Calfire spokesman Jonathan Pangburn on Thursday said there was no new information on the case from authorities.
But Peterson added the investigation has removed the possibility of an electrical cause – among others – and he said crews did not know where the blaze started and if arson was a possibility.
“There are multiple areas being pursued,” he said.
The cause of the fire might not be determined for a few weeks, because of the blaze’s size and damage it caused, Peterson said.
Before the fire, homeowner Ottilla May Carl was in a foreclosure battle with Wells Fargo over an unpaid $1 million loan that included her home as collateral, while the loan was intended for her son Dr. David Carl and wife – to help pay for the Ashford Circle house, according to documents at the San Benito County Courthouse. Over time, the loan was left unpaid and the bank in 2009 issued a foreclosure on the estate.
David Carl in a phone interview with the Free Lance said he stopped paying the loan after his mom kicked him and his wife out of the house, after they spent four years building and planning it.
The Carls moved into the home in 2006, but David Carl contended they quickly became estranged in 2008 after Ottilla May Carl associated herself with a convicted felon.
After a legal battle between the Carls in 2008, David Carl stopped paying the bill, he told the Free Lance.
In response, Ottilla May Carl went after the bank, he said. Ottilla May Carl could not be reached before publication.
She sued the bank in 2010 over what she deemed “financial elder abuse,” insisting she wasn’t adequately told what she was signing. A San Benito County jury agreed with the bank on Dec. 1. Afterward, Carl filed an appeal, which was denied on April 6.
As firefighters fought the fire Wednesday, a sign in front of the home was advertising an estate sale on May 1.
John Espinosa, neighbor and president of the Ashland Circle homeowners’ association, said Carl was planning to move to a home in Ridgemark on May 16.
“That was her plan,” he said. “She is a great lady and it’s sad to see this happen to her.”
Espinosa said he was the one who alarmed Carl – who he called “Tommie” – of the fire.
“She was pretty upset, as you would expect,” he said. “She loved that house.”
The house cost Carl more than $3 million to build. It had a movie theater, a large kitchen and a winding glass staircase.
“It was a gorgeous house, and it’s too bad – someone would have really enjoyed it,” he said.
Another neighbor, Chris Akey, talked over the phone with Carl the night before the fire, he said.
Akey talked with Carl around 5 p.m. – asking if he could purchase the solar panels off her house, he said. In response, Carl declined, he said.
“When I hear about an estate sale, as a consumer, I would assume she would want to sell some things,” he said.
Akey was responding to the sign outside the home, he said. It was the first time he had talked to her.
“She kept to herself,” he said.
Other neighbors in the area, who wished to remain anonymous, said that Carl rarely associated with those around her.
Espinosa said she was always walking around outside and kept busy.
“She was just a nice lady,” he said.
