House of hoarder: Home condemned – Boston firefighters blocked by clutter
By Marie Szaniszlo/Boston Herald – March 3, 2010

A gentle “pack rat” who stuffed his Back Bay brownstone with mounds of clutter had his home condemned yesterday a day after firefighters couldn’t get inside to investigate an oil leak.

The owner, 73-year-old Herbert Hamilton, had to crawl through the debris Monday and out the back door of 32 St. Stephens St., a block from Symphony Hall, authorities said.

“He’s a nice guy, but he’s a pack rat,” said Jeff Maccora, a 27-year-old neighbor, pointing to a mound of debris behind Hamilton’s building, including an old Volkswagen covered by a brown tarp and surrounded by plastic cat-litter cartons. “It’s an eyesore, but it’s his property. I don’t know what you can do.”

Firefighters responding to an oil leak shortly after 6:30 p.m. Monday decided to force their way into the building when no one answered the door or the phone, police said. But they were stopped by stacks of debris behind the door.