Facing foreclosure, Georgia 'chicken man' blows up own home

By Henry Blodget

A Roswell, Georgia man who fought with the city over his right to keep chickens on his suburban property blew himself up at his house today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The home of the man, Andrew Wordes, was in foreclosure. Investigators believe he poured gasoline all over the house and set it on fire rather than get evicted.

A body was found in the house after the fire.

Wordes started raising chickens on his one-acre property in 2005. This habit led to several confrontations with the city, which soon passed laws to make raising roosters illegal. The money Wordes spent on the chickens and his legal battles may have contributed to his failure to make payments on the house.

This morning, Wordes called a news reporter for a local TV station and told him to come to the house. Soon thereafter, the police arrived to evict him.

Alexis Stevens and Patrick Fox of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution report:

Marshals informed the 53-year-old Wordes three weeks ago that he would be evicted, and they arrived at the home on Alpine Drive about 10:45 a.m. Monday, Antonio Johnson with the Fulton County Marshal's Office said.

Wordes refused to come out or allow anyone entry, officials said. Officers tried to speak to Wordes through the closed front door and a window. During the two-hour standoff, Wordes was in contact with Channel 2 Action News reporter Mike Petchenik, who was outside the residence.

Petchenik said Wordes called him Monday morning and told him to come to the home, and with the Channel 2 truck sitting outside his home, Wordes told Petchenik to tell the marshals to get off his property.

"Once he advised us to leave his property, we retreated," Johnson said. "And that's when the explosion happened."

Among Wordes' last words to Petchenik were, "I appreciate everything, brother. I appreciate everything you've done."

"I can't tell you" what's going to happen, Wordes said. "It ain't pretty, though."

Moments later, an explosion rocked the house.

Read the whole story and see the video at AJC .

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