COLUMBIA, Tenn. (WTVF) — A December 2025 house fire in Columbia's Taylor Landing neighborhood elevated concerns about a pattern of missing inspections and electrical hazards that residents say put dozens of families at risk.
The fire at Chrissy Wiley's rental home started with her HVAC unit in the attic, according to Columbia Fire & Rescue. Investigators reported an "arc, spark from operating equipment" as contributing factors. The blaze was ruled accidental, but no examination was done to pinpoint whether the failure was electrical or mechanical.
Before this fire, melted HVAC disconnect boxes were discovered throughout the neighborhood, prompting questions about whether required inspections had been skipped.
Neighbors had been raising alarms since February 2025 — speaking at public meetings and sending letters to city officials. They say their concerns were ignored.
Joshua Moore, an engineer and president of the homeowner's advocacy group, began digging into public records.
"The person who installs these disconnect boxes or these other breakers or the other HVAC equipment, you know, they have a responsibility to install this stuff correctly," Moore said.
By Tennessee law, developers must ensure all inspections are completed by contractors before residents move in. In Taylor Landing, that developer is Meritage Homes.
In June 2025, neighbors received a notice from their property manager stating that Meritage Homes had identified "a recently identified fire hazard involving the HVAC circuit breaker located in the attic of at least some units within the Taylor Landing community." The company promised to repair any defects and said safety was a top priority.
Meritage Homes has not officially responded to multiple requests for comment by NewsChannel 5:
But we know officials there have at least seen our questions because a day after sending them they accidentally included us an in email forwarding those questions to others before sending us a request to recall that email:
"I don't think that those installations were done correctly, because if they were, then we wouldn't be finding oversized breakers or missing labels or disconnect boxes with loose aluminum wires. Those homes wouldn't be failing now," Moore said.
Moore believes responsibility extends beyond the builder to include the State's inspection process and the City of Columbia's role in issuing Certificates of Occupancy.
"The city should have caught that 90 of the homes did not have the final HVAC inspection paperwork completed before they issued these occupancy certificates," Moore said.
Mayor Chaz Molder said in a statement that the city participated in an audit in July 2025 after concerns were raised. He says the State Fire Marshal's Office found no deficiencies and even complimented their process. The mayor urged homeowners and the builder to work together to resolve the issues.
Attorney Dustin Kittle, who is now working with the neighbors, disagrees.
"So I would say that there is fault that can go all the way around from the bottom to the top on this," Kittle said.
Kittle pointed to public outcry at a Columbia Planning Commission meeting as evidence that city officials knew about the hazards before Wiley's fire.
"During Christmas, I thought about Miss Wiley and her little kids, and, you know, having to get out of that house that was on fire. And it's infuriating, really, to think that our city officials knew about this… They've known about this since early 2025," Kittle said.
Wiley now rents a different home in Taylor Landing thanks to donations that poured in after the initial NewsChannel 5 report.
"Without those donations, like I'm not kidding at all, we would still be in a hotel, and maybe not even a hotel, maybe just in a car, trying to figure out day by day," Wiley said.
She continues to speak out for accountability in the construction process.
"When you're building homes, you have people's lives in your hand. If you don't do everything per code or what it's supposed to be, you literally could kill someone," Wiley said.
The State Fire Marshal's Office confirmed it performs all electrical inspections in Columbia, including HVAC electrical inspections when requested by contractors or builders through the State Fire Marshall's Office permit system. These HVAC electrical inspections are procedurally part of the final electrical approval, and by policy, SFMO should not pass a final electrical inspection without them. SFMO clarified that its HVAC inspections cover only the wiring from the HVAC unit to the home, not the mechanical unit itself.
The City of Columbia handles mechanical HVAC inspections under its building codes but does not inspect any electrical wiring or breaker components.
At the time Taylor Landing was built, the City verified state electrical approvals by visually checking for a pass/fail sticker placed on the home's electrical meter base. Officials say the process has since changed: contractors must now submit digital proof of all state electrical finals and HVAC electrical permits before the City schedules its own final building inspection.
Data from the State Fire Marshal's Office shows that of 299 homes invited for voluntary electrical safety inspections, 88 have been inspected so far.
- 62 failed
- 26 passed
That's a 70% failure rate.
The two most common deficiencies:
- Missing kilowatt rating label — preventing inspectors from verifying wire size.
- Overfusing of condenser units — meaning the breaker size was too large for safe operation.
State inspections are ongoing, but SFMO says no additional inspections are scheduled unless homeowners request them. Follow-up inspections are conducted only after deficiencies are corrected.
Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder responded to the residents' concerns in this statement to NewsChannel 5:
"As a result of recent complaints by residents of the Taylor's Landing subdivision, the City of Columbia participated in an audit by the State Fire Marshal's Office which found no deficiencies in the inspection program and process, and in fact, the audit resulted in complimentary remarks of our processes and procedures," Molder said. "The City of Columbia has no record of missing inspections for Columbia permits for these homes or any homes that have been issued Certificates of Occupancy. I understand certain residents of this subdivision may be unhappy with the developer relative to certain deficiencies which may have resulted post-inspection and post moving in to their home, and I would encourage those homeowners and the developer to come together to resolve the issues, at least to understand both sides' position. However, any deficiencies which may have arisen upon move-in do not relate to the permitting or minimum requirements to pass inspection and obtain Certificates of Occupancy."
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@NewsChannel5.com
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