Fire Insurance Increased Prior to Historic Home Burning Down

The fire that destroyed the historic Colver House in Phoenix happened just days before a foreclosure sale to pay off the lenders.

Owners Jerry and Jennifer Greer who leapt from the burning house out of a second floor window had tried to sell it in recent years. In 2007 an Ashland woman wanted to buy the property but city officials wouldn't allow her to tear down the home as she intended.

A notice of default on the $250,000 loan was filed in April and the home was scheduled to be sold Friday morning to pay the Leinholders.

County fire officials say the Greers increased their insurance policy on the home within the past month.   

The 153-year-old house has been in Phoenix almost as long as its first white settlers in the 1850s. Now, as investigators search through the rubble, volunteers at the Phoenix Museum are saddened by this lost piece of the past.

"It's a major loss for the whole county because it was one of the oldest buildings," says Dorothy Claflin of the Phoenix Historical Society.

The front and side wall are all that's left of the historic home that went up in flames Sunday night. Built in 1855, the 3,300 square foot home served as a gathering place and even a sort of fortress for a time.

"It was a stage stop and they said it was also a block house because the Indians were still on the up-rise at the time," says Claflin.

Neighbors say the home's owner, Jerry Greer, loved its history.

"When I first moved in here I went over and spoke to the gentleman and we had about a 45 minute conversation about the house and its history and he was so proud of living there and being part of that," says Kori Nurss who lives across the street.

The history fire investigators are most concerned about, though, is knowing what happened the night it burned down. But they say finding out could take some time.

"Typically in a fire loss of this magnitude and this much damage one of the biggest problems is most of the evidence to try and determine how the fire started has been burned up," says Fire Chief Dan Marshall from Jackson County Fire District 5.

Greer and his wife Jennifer were home at the time and could have the best information about that night but fire fighters haven't had a chance to talk with them since they were taken to the hospital after jumping from an upstairs window. 

Chief Marshall says the fact that the home was in foreclosure and set to be sold this week won't change the way they approach their investigation.

The Greer's lost their pet macaw in the fire.

The Colver House was the second oldest house in Jackson County. The oldest is the Ashland Mountain House, on old Highway 99.

It was built beginning in 1851 by three business partners who ran it as an inn.

The Ashland Mountain House has been extensively restored and renovated and is now a bed and breakfast. Like the Colver House, the mountain house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.