County Says Rome Man Can No Longer Live In Home Of 40 Years After Fire, 6 Months Ago
Russell Dixon said his life was going fine up until about 6 months ago. He had a job, a home and was very happy. That all changed one evening 6 months ago after leaving his pregnant dog at home sleeping on an electric blanket and the blanket sparked a fire and heavily damaging his home on Robinson Road in West Rome.
Dixon said he did not have insurance and was not able to make repairs to his home. He said his water and power were turned off after the fire but he has continued living there ever since.
Shortly after the fire, he says he lost his job at Ryan’s due to hygiene reasons. “I did not have water so I was not able to bath on a regular basis.” He said.
Dixon said he has been scraping along since the fire but everything became much worse Wednesday when City officials showed up and told him he could no longer stay on the property. “I am sleeping in a separate building and not in the house.” He said, but they told me that I had to leave the property all together.
According to Dixon, a hearing will be set for the next few days and after that, he and his dogs could possibly have to vacate his home of 40 years. “I’ve got nowhere to go” he said.
Dixon said he is asking for any kind of help he can get. But most importantly he said, “I need a job.”
A call to the county building inspection department was returned but officials said they could not comment on the matter and directed all questions to the County Attorney. We have a call into the County Attorney for comments.
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See the video below for Dixon’s story.
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