Everyone makes some mistakes at work sometimes. Usually, though,  someone else catches the error before something catastrophic happens. That wasn’t the case in Fort Worth, Texas, where the crews hired to demolish condemned buildings knocked down the wrong one. Worse: they did it again the following day. 

The mistake is sort of understandable. Both can be explained by human error. “There were two different types of human error,” a city spokesman explained to CBS Dallas/Fort Worth. The property demolished in error back in July was a residence behind a building that had been damaged in a fire. When the crew demolished the larger building, they took down the vacant residence too. The owners did have some items stored there: clothes and family pictures. Not catastrophic, but not replaceable, either.

The second property taken down by mistake was a vacant but structurally sound house. A neighbor noticed the demolition crew and found it strange that the city was taking down a house that was vacant but in pretty good condition, but leaving the much worse-off house next door. Unfortunately, the crew took down the wrong house. The utilities had been turned off and no one was home.

The first accidental demolition only came to the public’s attention as part of an investigation of the first one. You see, the same crew and code enforcement officer handled both. That officer is now on paid leave while the city tries to figure out what the heck happened.

City Of Fort Worth Demolished Wrong Home For A Second Time [CBS DFW]
City Subcontractor Demolished Wrong House [CBS DFW]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.