David Underwood and his wife were planning on taking a look at the house Underwood's grandmother had once lived in. They had plans of fixing up the home in Fort Worth, Texas, and moving into it eventually. As they drove around the neighborhood looking for the house it seemed almost as if it had just disappeared into thin air...because it had, according to the Huffington Post.
Demolition crews from the city had accidently demolished the wrong house.
"We came around Silver Creek looking for the lot and my wife said, 'David...I think the house is gone,'" Underwood told local TV station KDFW. "I was like, 'What?' and we looked up there and sure enough, it's gone!"
The house next door had been condemned and scheduled for demolition, the crew accidently tore down the vacant but not condemned Underwood home instead. The three bedroom, ranch-style house sitting alongside a lake was valued at $82,000, according to the New York Daily News.
The city issued a statement that was lacking the compassion that one would think would accompany the accidental destruction of a person's home.
"On July 12, 2013, contractors demolished the wrong property on Watercress Drive," the statement said. "The property to be demolished should have been 9708 Watercress Dr. The property that was demolished was a vacant structure located at 9716 Watercress Drive."
The Underwoods had planned on relocating to the home once their children left home. While the house was vacant for the most part Underwood says that there were some antiques and books inside when the house was destroyed, according to the New York Daily News.
"As we left, I saw two city marshals on patrol and I said, 'Hey, what happened? Somebody tore down our house' and he goes 'That was your house? Oops,'" Underwood said.
The incident is not without precedent. A similar incident happened in 2011 to a man in Pittsburgh who came home from vacation to find his house demolished, according to the Huffington Post.
Dallas News | myFOXdfw.com
