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February 20, 2008

Update: First try fails to bring the house down / Photo

Journal photo/ Bill Murphy
Using a crane to swing the container of an old rubbish truck into the Silva's home on Yucatan Drive, Warwick, did little damage to the house.

WARWICK -- Plan A didn't work. Now, they'll have to come up with Plan B.

Curious neighbors crowded the street in front of 106 Yucatan Drive, Warwick to await the house's destruction as part of its starring role in "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

They were briefly treated to an unusual site: A crane slamming the container portion of a City of Warwick dump truck, like a wrecking ball into the 1,000-square-foot Cape that was home to a family of nine just two days ago.

But a truck swinging in the air was not enough to bring the house down. It only managed to make a few dents in the front of the house. Worse, it swung back and struck the crane, breaking a hydraulic fuel line and sending fuel onto the road.

Now crews are trying to remove the crane.

Some heavy excavating equipment has been seen on site, it's not clear what the crew will use next for its demolition.

After all, before they can build a two-story, 2,900-square foot home for the Silva family, they must tear down their existing home.

The house is too small and dangerous because of lead paint for a family that includes Doreen, 33, and Kenny Silva, 35, their two biological children, 14 and 11, both with autism, their three adopted children, 6, 5 and 2, all with disabilities, and their two foster children, 6 and 19 months.

The Silvas are getting a new home courtesy of the popular ABC television show and some 200 volunteers, a group that includes contractors, subcontractors, neighbors, strangers and city officials.

Standing along the street on this cold February morning, the onlookers have seen the crew of men and women in matching shirts and hard hats march down the street in a parade of blue. They've watched the white city dump truck back up to the house and retrieve its remaining contents. And they've seen the big yellow crane back into position in front of the house.

Once the old house is demolished, construction will begin immediately on the new home. Crews of 35 will work around the clock. By the time the family returns from its first vacation ever -- a week in Disney World -- they will have a new home, a project that would normally take six to eight months.

For more background, read yesterday's story.

-- With reports from Journal staff photographer Bill Murphy and projo.com staff member Mike McKinney

Posted by Jack Perry  at 12:27 PM | Permalink

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