Fire Marshall: no evidence Chinese drywall causes fires in Southwest Florida

Now, the state-backed insurer is reconsidering! This, after the insurance consumer advocate and the Division of Consumer Services get involved. They say it's the first case of its kind brought to their attention.

James and Maria Ivory own the home in question. Citizens Insurance told them to fix the faulty drywall or they would be dropped. The family tells wink news they can't afford the replacement.

"This is the number one thing on my plate right now because this is just an untenable situation as it is right now," Sean Shaw, Florida's Insurance Consumer Advocate, says. "We have to make sure that going forward we have a fair process and consumers are not just stuck out there with uninsurable homes with Chinese drywall."

As for Citizens Insurance, the company tells WINK News it believes Chinese drywall is a fire hazard, so we went to the Fire Marshall to find out why.

Chinese drywall frequently kills air conditioners and corrodes metals. Some people have reported that it makes appliances stop working all together, but right now there is no evidence that Chinese drywall does cause fires.

"It's worse than a nightmare," Richard Kampf, a Cape Coral homeowner living with Chinese drywall, says. "I don't know what the word is, but it's worse than than that."

Kampf fears that his smoke detector won't work when he needs it. Its wires are not immune to the corrosion caused by Chinese drywall.

"When you have corrosion and it may not work as it's designed to, that's when you may have a (fire)," Deputy Chief Fire Marshall Craig Brotheim of the South Trail Fire District says.

Brotheim investigates the cause of fires. He says, so far, no Southwest Florida fires have been blamed on Chinese drywall.

"If you see (wires) just changing in color but the wires and everything are sound, then probably you're not going to have a problem," Brotheim says.

To date, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has not received any reports of fire, electric shock or incidents that might spark a fire because of Chinese drywall. But, it's still investigating, specifically -- wiring, switches, circuit breakers and panel boards. Experts there say degraded connections could develop hot spots, resulting in overheating and possibly fire. But so far, it has not happened.

"I think it's too early to tell," Brotheim says. "It's only been a few years. We don't know what the long-term effects could be."

Results from months of testing on Chinese drywall are expected to be released later this month or early November.