Pandemic may trigger hoarding tendencies, posing extra danger during fire season

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Hoarding may become more of an issue as the coronavirus outbreak stretches on, but there's a possibly devastating side effect that many aren't aware of: stronger fires.

Gina Caughey, the executive director "A Call to Order" Professional Organizers, says hoarding is a part of our biological response as humans to fear or anxiety. In El Paso County alone, around 27,000 people suffer from a hoarding disorder, with most of them being elderly. 

According to the Institute for Challenging Disorganization, everyone falls onto the hoarding scale to some degree, which is why we've been seeing people stock-piling toilet paper and cleaning supplies.

But for people who severely suffer from a hoarding disorder, the consequences can be much more dangerous. Gina says many extreme hoarders usually keep their hoarding under wraps until they're at the point of eviction or can no longer move in their space. 

Now that we are in wildfire season, she says any home getting to that point is especially dangerous. 

"An average house fire burns at 2800 degrees -- a hoarding house burns at 3600 degrees. So we are putting those people at risk, the people next door at risk, and our first responders at risk," says Gina.

She says once the dust settles, she hopes people will go through what she calls a "growth phase", where they shed some of their excess stuff. 

However - many people may have the opposite reaction - and continue their hoarding tendencies in fear of the virus peaking again later on in the year. 

Gina says if you do suffer from a hoarding disorder, the best thing you can do during this time is keep your care team in place, and continue taking any medication prescribed by your doctor.