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Landlord: Former tenant rigged illegal power line

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The owner of a northwest Charlotte home damaged this week by an electrical fire said his former tenant illegally tapped into a power line without anyone’s permission.

Reached by phone Friday evening, Myron Massey told NewsChannel 36 he knew his rental home at 2215 Dundeen Street had electricity but he never looked into why he was not receiving a bill from Duke Energy.

Thursday morning’s fire displaced four adults and two children who had been renting the home from Massey.

Fire investigators said the flames were sparked by an electrical problem in the home’s wall.

“We didn’t know anything about the power,” said Nikala Meritt, a tenant who had been renting a room at the house near Beatties Ford Road for the last month.

Merritt, 21, said all of the tenants in the home learned of the illegal power connection after they smelled smoke early Wednesday afternoon and called firefighters.

The crew responding to the 9-1-1 call discovered an electrical line running directly from an overhead cable at the street to a fuse box in the house, Merritt said.

“Everything was illegal. Nothing was legit basically,” she said.

Firefighters declared the home unsafe and told the tenants they would have to leave.

Massey, the landlord, said the home had been vacant and without electricity for several months before a tenant leased a room in mid-October.

The tenant later moved out, but Massey said he noticed lights were on and electrical outlets were working.

He said he did not know about the illegal connection until he was contacted by the Charlotte Fire Department this week.

The wiring apparently overheated from the connection, Massey said, triggering the fire which was discovered hours after the illegal wire was disconnected.

“This is just so crazy,” said Ashley Dawkins, 23, who had moved into the home with her two children and their father last week.

At $125 per week, Dawkins said she could afford the rent and care for her two boys, ages two and four, on the wages she earns at a local restaurant.

“It was what we could call our home,” she said.

Dawkins said the fire damaged or destroyed most of her possessions.

“I just thank god I wasn’t in there,” she said.