110 W. New York Ave., DeLand, FL
386-734-4622
BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Looks good from outside — Ann and Paul Thomas stand in front of their home about four miles west of DeLand.
BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Cracking walls, floors — In the photo at left, Paul Thomas points to a crack in the ceramic tile in the entryway to his Lake County home. It’s one of many cracks in the walls and floors.
BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Inspection point — Paul Thomas cut an opening in the ceiling to monitor slippage of wood trusses and supports in his home.
BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Sagging floor — A widening gap between the baseboard and flooring shows how the movement of supporting trusses is causing the second floor of the Thomases’ home to sag. Paul and Ann Thomas believe bombing at the Pinecastle Range is responsible.
By Pat Hatfield
posted Oct 13, 2009 - 9:34:23am
Eighteen months ago, Paul and Ann Thomas moved into a new home in Lake County, about four miles west of DeLand. But the home is rattled regularly when bombs are dropped at the Pinecastle Range, and cracks have appeared in the cinder-block walls.
“I want to move,” Ann Thomas said.
They can’t sell the house.
Paul Thomas built the stylish 3,400-square-foot, block-and-stucco home on Evergreen Road. It’s just off State Road 44, four miles west of the Whitehair Bridge over the St. Johns River.
Paul has been a builder for years, and a general contractor for four years.
The couple relocated from Michigan. They planned to enjoy the home and life near Ann’s family members, who live within walking distance. They could run their business from a second-floor loft, with a view through the trees.
On June 26, 2008, Ann was at home, while Paul was back in Michigan.
She thought there was an earthquake.
“I was right here, and the room shook. Then, it happened again, and again.”
Ann’s brother called from their mother’s house and asked, “Is it an earthquake?”
“We didn’t know what it was at first,” Ann said.
Someone told them it was bombing at Pinecastle Range, a practice area for Navy jet fighters and bombers. The range is in the Ocala National Forest, 15-20 miles north-northwest of the Thomases.
The couple called the Lake County Sheriff’s Office the next day, and were told there were more complaints than usual about the June 26 bombing.
The Sheriff’s Office referred the couple to the U.S. Navy in Jacksonville, which runs the range.
The Thomases called the Navy, and were told to submit information in writing.
They did.
The shaking scenario replayed over and over, always on days when the bombing was going on at the range.
The Thomases started keeping notes.
They watched floor joists begin to separate. Concrete on outside porches lifted up. Cracks appeared in ceramic tile at the entryway of the house.
More and more cracks appeared in the stucco.
Double trusses, major support structures for the house, started to slip apart.
Paul said they could live with the noise. “But when a truss shifts off of itself an inch-and-three-quarters? No way.”
Paul had independent engineer Michael Thompson of DBE&C in Orlando examine the home.
Engineer Thompson said he found visible evidence of structural cracks in various locations in the house.
Plus, “There is evidence that the roof truss has shifted laterally,” he said, causing the exterior upstairs wall and upstairs floor to shift.
Thompson said removing the elastic-type paint and stucco from the walls would likely reveal more damage.
This would be expensive.
Thompson told The Beacon the type of cracks he saw at the house are consistent with damage from sound waves, not settling. House settling usually starts cracks at the foundation that work up through the house, and are concentrated in one area. The cracks, scattered all around the Thomas house, started high and worked down. Also, differential settling doesn’t move trusses, the engineer said.
Every house settles some, in the short term, he said. After 90 days, this settling should be minute. Damage at the Thomas house isn’t consistent with either short- or long-term normal settling.
The cracks are more of a cosmetic problem, Thompson said. What worries him is the shifting of the trusses. It could lead to a wall collapse.
Thompson recommended the Thomases get a geotechnical engineer to install a monitor to record and measure the sound waves during bombing runs. Then, they’ll know for sure if the sound waves are strong enough to cause the damage.
This is expensive, Thompson said, but that should be the next step.
He recommended the Thomases not stay in the home during bombing runs at Pinecastle.
Paul said it could cost up to $250,000 just to remove the stucco and paint and repair the blocks. He spent $450,000 to build the house, and it was valued last year at $500,000.
“The Navy from Jacksonville sent out a home inspector. He couldn’t believe the trusses moved. He believed the foundation is soft,” Paul said.
The Thomases are pursuing a claim for damage through their homeowners insurance company, Royal Palm Insurance. Then, the insurance company can work to recover money from the Navy.
Attorney Michael Kelton of DeLand is representing the Thomases. He said matters are still in a preliminary stage with the Navy.
“We’re waiting to see what the homeowners insurance company does,” he said. Kelton is still waiting for an engineer’s report from the insurance company.
If insurance won’t cover it, Kelton will press forward with the Navy.
The Navy, he said, will neither admit nor deny responsibility for the damage.
The Thomases said even if they are able to repair the house, they can expect continued damage from future bombing runs.
The Navy’s response
Public Affairs Officer Miriam Gallet at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville confirmed the Thomases had submitted a claim, which the Navy Judge Advocate General’s office is reviewing.
Jennifer Zeldis of that office said the Navy can’t discuss the claim, but takes all claims seriously.
In the past five years, there have been a total of six claims related to activity at Pinecastle Range. Four of those were paid a total of $6,233 for minor damages such as broken windows and fragile items. Two claims were denied.
There have been no claims for personal injury.
The Navy stressed the importance of the bombing range to the military.
Gallet said training must be realistic to provide experiences vital to military success and survival of crews during actual battle conditions. The experience can’t be obtained any other way, and it saves lives.
“Furthermore, the Pinecastle Range is the only U.S. east coast training facility authorized for the release of explosive air-to-surface ordnance (including close air support), an essential factor in air warfare training,” Gallet wrote in an e-mail to The Beacon.
An average of 1,222 inert or dummy bombs and 453 live bombs have been released at Pinecastle every year since 2002.
Read more about Pine-castle in the related article.
Public Information Officer James Vachon at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the Sheriff’s Office usually does get a few calls when there’s bombing at Pinecastle.
“They’re generally noise complaints,” he said. It’s only occasionally that a call comes in reporting any damage.
Vachon said the Navy notifies the Sheriff’s Office of activities planned at the range. The Navy provides a toll-free number, 1-800-874-5059, for callers who express concerns about the bombing.
The Thomases believe the construction of their home — block and stucco on a concrete slab — makes it more susceptible than neighboring homes to damage from vibration and sound waves. Most of the neighboring homes are wood-frame or modular, and sit above the ground.
Whether any geological or atmospheric conditions contribute to the susceptibility to damage of the Thomas residence remains to be seen.
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