Condemned house in Champion causes concern in neighborhood

Neighbors will be glad to see the mold-filled house torn down.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL DESK
CHAMPION -- Homeowners along Cloverlane Avenue keep their middle-class homes well maintained, but there's an eyesore in the somewhat isolated neighborhood off State Road.
The Trumbull County Health Department posted a quarantine sign on the front of the split-level house at 4509 Cloverlane Ave. on April 5.
Owners Michael and Tracey Pullin have moved out with their children.
Knee-high weeds surround the house; one of its three front columns has collapsed. The windows are boarded and a hot water heater litters the front yard.
Neighbors see the Pullins only when they pick up their mail.
Black mold caused by excessive moisture in the house has taken its toll.
"It was really a nice house," neighbor Charlene Wheatcroft said of the dwelling, which will soon be demolished. "All of us got along pretty well."
Health fears
Wheatcroft said neighbors are concerned because they don't know if the mold will harm their children's lungs.
James Dobson, Girard city health commissioner, said as the house now sits, it shouldn't present an outside health hazard. He pointed out that the structure is sealed and the mold can't get out. Even if it did, the spores would dissipate in the outside air.
Besides the obvious cosmetic detraction, Wheatcroft said the mold-filled house has reduced surrounding property values.
She said she doesn't even like to talk about the condemned house across the street because it "attracts strangers."
The house was owned for years by John and Mariann Scott and sold to the Pullins.
Attributed to fire
Frank Migliozzi, director of health at the Trumbull County Health Department, said the Pullins attributed the moisture in the house to a fire while it was owned by the Scotts.
The Pullins maintained that the water used to douse the flames was never properly dried, providing the conditions to grow black mold.
"It was everywhere," Migliozzi said.
Migliozzi explained that the Pullins sealed off all but one room because of their family illnesses -- asthmatic symptoms, coughing and breathing difficulties.
The illnesses caused the Pullins to contact the county health department.
Testing by Sylcom Safety Specialists of Youngstown uncovered high concentrations of black mold. Above-normal moisture levels also were found.
Mold was discovered in the rafters and behind wall paneling before the Pullins moved out.
Neighbors comment
John Zigmont, 77, who lives two houses down from 4509 Cloverlane, isn't concerned about mold spreading to other homes, but he wonders who will get stuck with the demolition bills.
"We'll be glad to see it go," commented another neighbor, Margaret Karr, noting that the Pullins lived in the house only about six months.
Karr's son, Russell, who's in the construction business, expressed concern about the demolition.
Although he says it must go, he thinks if care isn't taken, the black mold could spread to other houses.
Must use care
Dobson said the mold won't spread to other houses. If the mold is removed from the house before it's demolished, there is no chance of anyone's becoming ill. Even if it is not removed, wetting it down as it is demolished and removed will help prevent spreading.