Homeowner says AT&T technician nearly set home on fire

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A Douglas County family says a mistake by a telephone technician nearly set their house on fire.

Once their phone was working they made a call to Channel 2 consumer investigator Jim Strickland.

Richard Lucia described to Strickland how an AT&T technician scrambled from under his house after cutting a hot wire.

"He says, 'Thank God I didn't get electrocuted,' and I said, 'What are you talking about?  You just burned up everything in my house,'" Lucia said.

It's been three weeks since the electronics in most of Lucia's kitchen appliances were fried in a power surge.

"The whole house smelled like smoke.  It was blazing out of there, smoking, everything like that," said Lucia as he pointed to where a television caught fire. 

The electronics in the dishwasher, microwave and oven are also inoperative.

The total replacement cost is more than $1,500.

The initial response from AT&T was a letter from a law firm saying the technician "was not the proximate cause of your damages."

"It wasn't their responsibility. It's very frustrating," said Lucia's girlfriend, Kelly Tyson, whose name is on the account.

Tyson told Strickland since he started asking questions of AT&T Wednesday they have reopened the investigation and softened on the money.

"Fifty percent would be all that they would offer, which would not cover me paying all the expenses AT&T has caused me," Tyson said.

An AT&T spokesman told Strickland they are working directly with Tyson toward a resolution.

"They should make this right, 100 percent," she said.