Home Inspector Dies Mysteriously in Hot Tub

[hausdok]

On Sunday, October 18th, two people, one of them a professional home inspector, Paul A. Craig, 59, died in what is said to have been an electrical accident involving a hot tub in Federal Way, WA.

The Medical Examiner's office has yet to issue a formal cause of death but friends are saying that investigators have told them that the cause of the death was most likely accidental. Craig's son disputes that and claims that the hot tub has been used safely for more than five years without an issue.

To read more, click here.

[Richard Moore]

First of all, very sad. My sympathies to the families.

Was he retired? The only link I can find is to Portland and that website is down.

I expect we will eventually hear more from the medical examiner.

[Richard Saunders]

My question would be, how does improper wiring cause a death in a hot tub if no one is grounded?

[kurt]

Until there's a complete coroners report/autopsy to determine cause of death, speculation is inappropriate.

[Richard Moore]

...speculation is inappropriate

I agree Kurt. I was trying to do it tactfully, but have been having second thoughts ever since. I have edited, deleted some stuff/posts.

[Richard Saunders]

Unbelievable the editing that goes on around here!!

[Robert Jones]

Meaning?

[Richard Saunders]

Meaning... You haven't noticed posts are deleted or changed at the "moderators" (censors) will??

Pull your head out of the sand.

(You will probably never see this post BTW).

[Richard Moore]

Unbelievable the editing that goes on around here!!

Richard, I edited my own post to delete unneeded speculation about possible causes. Once that was removed, parts or all of subsequent posts made no sense and so, yes, I edited those. I'm sorry if you have a problem with that.

[Robert Jones]

Richard S,

Wow, as much as I wanted to ignore your reply to me I couldn't. I guess I have never noticed it since I haven't been edited or moderated. I say, watch what you try and post and your probably safe. Other than that, you strike me as one that would probably fit right in on a certain forum that will go un-named. Back to building my sand castle.

PS** I edited myself to add your name.

[ghentjr]

Here is the link you couldn't find.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/paul-craig- ... 16/a70/4a6

FTR, I've edited a couple of these myself, including this (ghent's) post.

Honestly, this story doesn't have anything to do with a home inspector; it's an unfortunate tale of two folks trying to live their lives, and some horrible accident occurred. I don't think it deserves to be in the lineup @ TIJ; it's a social tale, not a professional one.

Kurt

[hausdok]

I disagree, it certainly does have something to do with home inspections.

I was going to run the story long before I learned that the victim was a home inspector, which was on the day I posted it 8 days after the incident; I just hadn't gotten to it yet.

The primary story is that a hut tub may have electrocuted someone. Yeah, we don't necessarily inspect hot tubs but we should at least be inspecting the feeders, up to and including the disconnect and whether it's properly configured.

The coincidence that he just happens to be a home inspector is secondary to everything else but the lead-in ensured that folks read about it, which I think is important - especially if it causes inspectors to look more critically at the power feeds to hot tubs.

The fact that he is a home inspector is sad for our profession and the fact that the son is disputing it is an interesting twist that makes it a sort of mystery. Where the speculation and inuendo came from? Well, it's an internet forum, after all - we pretty much know how that goes.

If they do confirm that this was an electrocution, how that thing was wired and how things were grounded is going to be important to know.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[kurt]

I disagree, it certainly does have something to do with home inspections.

Mike

Not until there's a validated coroners report.

[hausdok]

UPDATE: I just spoke by telephone with the King County Medical Examiner's office. Their investigation is still ongoing and they haven't issued an OCD yet. They are awaiting the results of lab tests and other investigative results and it looks like they won't have an OCD until sometime in December.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Richard Saunders]

Certainly an electrical issue or electrocution wouldn't take this long to figure out. Any news?

I am interested because the whole story kind of goes against the grain and I don't really believe the electrocution theory that was assumed in the original article.