Home on hillside collapses in Fairfax after Monday rainstorm

FAIRFAX, Calif. - Investigators say rain was likely the cause of a home collapse in Fairfax early Tuesday morning.

The home on Pine Drive, near the Cascade Canyon Preserve, gave way just before 4:00 a.m., officials said.

Neighbors said they noticed the recent rain caused the soil to get loose, and the foundation of the house started to shift. The homeowners were not at the house at the time of the collapse, and said the home is currently under construction.

Fairfax home collapse, photo courtesy Ross Valley Fire.

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The vacant house on Pine Dr., was getting its foundation replaced. After work crews left for the day, some folks noticed that the house seemed to be separated from its foundation. The area got 1.7 inches of rain on Sunday and Monday.

"Fortunately the neighbors heard the collapse, and they said it sounded like thunder coming down," said Battalion Chief Gavin Illingworth of the Ross Valley Fire Department. "They have been in contact with the homeowners."

Utility crews were called out to secure power lines in the neighborhood. Authorities are now waiting for building inspectors to arrive and assess the damage. Fairfax police also responded.

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A main road in the neighborhood was closed Tuesday as maintenance workers repair the cracks and short up the ground.

More ground movements are possible. Hillsides in California, as beautiful as they are, have always had an issue with houses being built upon them.

Structural engineer and author Peter Yanev is a world-renowned failure analysis engineer. He says hillsides often equate to landslide danger. "In past earthquakes and rainstorms, landslides account for a very high percentage of all the failures of houses," said Yaanev.

In this case, an upper retaining wall above the house and its foundation work collapsed; a landslide took out the whole house. "It has to be done carefully and it immediately indicates that the risk in general is higher," said Yanev. 

With new large cracks showing, officials closed the road, affecting four homes past the slide. The massive hill above the weakened street, slide and home presents another potential future risk.

Back in 1981, rains took out another house. "Here at the end of Pine, a house slid down the hill. A refrigerator fell on a lady, and she became a quadriplegic," said local resident Ted Bright.

For now, it's up to the soil engineers, it's up to the fault analysis people, but, most importantly, it's up to the insurance companies and lawyers, as to what's going to actually happen to this house going forward.