Wrong House Demolished, GPS Blamed (Photos)

If you should happen to hear a very loud “Oops!” it will be coming from the state of Georgia.

One Georgia family is quite upset that the house that was hand-built by their father was accidentally demolished by a crew that says they were given GPS coordinates instead of a physical street address.

The house was empty, fortunately, but contained family heirlooms that cannot be replaced.

“We had heirlooms in there…my mom’s dining room set…her hutch with her dishes in there,” homeowner Al Byrd told WSBTV.

The demolition company said it had paperwork.

“I said, ‘Paperwork for what?’ and he said, ‘For the house, to demolish the house.’ I said, ‘I’m the owner of the house, I haven’t given anybody any authority to demolish this house,’” said [the homeowner]….

“I said, ‘What address did you have?’ and he said, ‘They sent me some GPS coordinates.’ I said, ‘Don’t you have an address?’ (and) he said, ‘Yes, my GPS coordinates led me right to this address here and this house was described,’” said [the homeowner].

[The homeowner] said he suspects the intended target was actually across the road.

The man who cuts the grass told Mr. Byrd about a month ago that a power box was missing and that holes had been punched into the walls. They both thought it was vandalism at the time. Now, Byrd believes it was part of the preparation for the demolition.

The use of GPS coordinates for something this important is both irresponsible and dangerous. Maybe next time a good old map and photo will do the trick.