So Sad

The first fire fatalities in Easton since 2001, no less tragic.

I blogged about the home on the right, if only in passing. this block of Spring Garden has some formerly stately twins, all now somewhat run down or in various states of repair and or decay.

The next twin to the right still has the tarp on the roof from Hurricane Sandy and a Board of Health placard on the door. that makes at least 4 homes uninhabitable on the block; there's another one across the street.

Could it be perhaps among the death and sadness that something good can come from this?

Perhaps everyone will take responsibility for making sure their home is safe?

Perhaps Landlords will take responsibility for making sure their properties are up to code? (this building is owned by

ELLEN M MOSKELLA  1564 FARMERSVILLE RD
BETHLEHEM, PA, 18020-9741
	Code REQUIRES a central fire alarm system in apartment buildings! I know this because when I bought my twin which was zoned as a two family, I was required to get such a system. but as I was deconverting to single family, this requirement no longer applied.

PLEASE, if the apartment you are living in seems unsafe, or if you don't have smoke detectors, do something about it!
Call Codes!
 610-250-6723
Call the Mayor!

610-250-6610

some other links:
http://eastoneccentric.blogspot.com/
http://easton.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/2-dead-in-fire-on-spring-garden-street

Contrasting dormers

I've been thinking about this for awhile, doing a photo study of how people in twins maintain/renovate their homes. Living in a twin myself, and my neighbor at this moment installing a new front door, this is something I have some ideas on.
Dormers on twins are a place where people might cut corners. Like this one. the house on the left has the original ornate setup, the middle window flanked by very narrow sidelights. Stylish, but to replace today would most likely be quite pricey.

The home on the left didn't worry about that; when it got sided, the whole thing was just replaced with a stock window. On its own, it might not be noticed, but in cotrast to its mirror twin next door, well, its like gravy and ice cream.