Every since I was a little girl the one thing I was always feared was a fire. When I was in elementary school I had a friend whose house caught on fire. I remember how traumatic it was for her and her family. How sad it was to experience someone going through that loss. The loss of their home, belongings, etc. Then later on in my teen years it hit again. I was laying in bed and remember hearing a popping noise, I look outside and see sparks two houses over. Then in a matter of seconds flames. I remember running to my mom and calling 911. I didn’t know those people but I knew they were a family with kids. Actually watching a fire burn was so scary. It was at night, and when I saw them outside I felt some relief. I always fear that a fire will happen when I’m asleep. Or I could come home and have everything just gone.
Last week I got a terrible phone call from my brother. Normally I love to hear from my brother, but when he starts a conversation off with “I have some bad news” you know it’s not going to be good. My brother is the type of person who tends to tolerate a lot from people and things. He isn’t one to think things are “bad” unless they are indeed very bad. He proceeded to tell me that my moms house had caught fire. He still did a good job at making it not sound as serious as it was. Not sure if that was Scott being Scott, or if he was trying not to make me worried. I had him txt me a picture so I could better understand what he was describing. When I received this picture my heart dropped.
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This is were we grew up most of our life. We moved into this home and lived with my grandma for a bit when we were younger (she had cancer). Previous to that, my grandma and grandpa lived in this house for a VERY long time. This is also my mom and uncles childhood home. There have been many family member who have came and stayed over the years, making it their home too. We’ve had MANY Sunday dinners here, and every Christmas and Thanksgiving we have a big dinner with all our friends and family. Now the house might not be huge, but we make it work, we could fit a bunch of people in there! It might be shoulder to shoulder but it was also overflowing with love. This house has been around longer then some of our family even.
We go over right away and be there to support and help my mom and stepdad with whatever we can. Everyone was fine and no one was in the house when the fire started. It started in the furnace and smoked alot at first before catching fire. According to the firefighters if they had been asleep in bed, they could have died/been seriously hurt from smoke inhalation. I can’t thank god enough that he was watching over my family and no one was harmed. My neice’s (who lived with my mom and stepdad) room is right beside the furnace, it’s so scary to think about.
The firefighters were still working when we arrived. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling of seeing your home for so many years being destroyed. After the fire did it’s damage, the firefighters did theirs. They were just doing their job so you can’t get mad at them. Regardless it was still sad to watch them as they threw multiple things out on the front lawn, continue to tear down (they even got out a chainsaw) the rest of the porch and walls that were left. They couldn’t leave them standing b/c it wasn’t supported properly. I do thank them tremendously for doing such a great job. They went into the house and tried to cover as much as they could with tarps to prevent water damage. They also did a great job at making sure it didn’t spread and get worse.
After they tore the porch down
Unfortunately the fire spread all through the attic. Most of what we had stored up there were old pictures, stuff my mom had saved from mine and my brothers childhood, etc. It all fell through the ceiling. There wasn’t fire damage throughout the whole interior, but there was a ton of smoke damage and water damage. They will be able to save the frame of the house (not including the porch part) and will be re-building the whole interior. We are still sad and dealing with the things we lost that cant be replaced, but we are VERY thankful that no one was hurt.
It is amazing the amount of support and love that was shown from the community and our family/friends. Almost immediately we had a large amount of people there to help. Some people even showed after seeing it on the news. Whoever didn’t come by the house called, txt, etc. offering their help and support anyway they could. The lady that was there with Red Cross told us that as long as she’s been assisting families shes never seen such a large group of family and friends come together in such a short amount of time. There was a group of gentelman there (along with a bunch of others who stopped by) who boarded the house up when the firefighters were done. They helped move our valuable furntiure off the lawn and make sure everything was secure for the night.
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Since the fire my family is doing as good as can be expected. They slowly discovered pictures, items of sentimental value in the pile in the front yard. The red cross stepped in to help them financially with a place to stay until the insurance kicked in. The insurance company is helping them find a house to rent until the house is ready to be moved back into (estimated at 4-6 months). We’ve had a bunch of family/friends who have helped move, clean, talk to people, support, etc. my mom and step dad. I am very thankful for that. A sincere THANKS to everyone who has shown concern, love, and support through this time.
