As some of you know, we had a devastating home fire on April 6, 2013.
Our family lost everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, except the clothes we were wearing at the time.
The big blessing in this is that none of us were home at the time and though we lost our beloved pup Lola and our dear old ferret Zoey our family members were all safe. I continually realize still that the worst case scenario would have been that I had to plan funerals for all of my family members, a true fate worse than death.
Here is an excerpt from what I wrote on my Facebook page in the first few days after the fire:
"People have asked about the night of the fire, so...
My son Gage and I arrived home after an hour or so running errands and as we pulled toward the house we noticed it looked strange -- there was a deep orange glow in the windows. like the sunset was reflecting off of them.
Gage said "Our house is on fire!"
I was looking right at the house as I drove toward it, still not realizing what I was seeing, and he said it again. I still didn't get it and was about to pull into the driveway when I saw flames coming out of the window. At that instant I realized what was going on and before I could put the car in park Gage was out the door. I was only feet behind him, car still running.
We realized our puppy Lola and our ferret were inside so we ran right in the front door against the advice of our neighbor watching the fire, and ran right into a wall of smoke and heat. We could hear Lola faintly barking. We could barely see anything because there was so much smoke and flames were three feet in front of us, so we had to run back out. But then we tried crawling back inside a few times.
As we called her name her barking got closer but the smoke and flames kept us from getting more than a few feet in the door. We didn't realize that the stairs were completely engulfed in flames by then and she couldn't get downstairs. She was barking frantically, but still we couldn't get to her. Then we heard her yelping in pain! Gage ran to the back of the house to try to get in the back sliding glass doors and just as he got there the glass popped outward from the heat. He burned his hand opening the screen door but everything was on fire. And we couldn't hear her any more. It was horrific.
We watched in horror as the entire house went up in flames in the 10 or 15 minutes until the fire department arrived. The police kept asking if anyone was in the house as I was frantically calling all of the kids to see where they were. To my relief they all finally answered my calls and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
It was frustrating to watch the house disappearing into the flames as the firemen struggled to get enough water pressure to hose down the house. They must have thought I was crazy as I screamed at them to hurry up and do something! By then the house was completely consumed, flames coming out of every window and the roof. Then all efforts went into preventing it from overtaking all the rest of the units.
As the fire raged, the kids came there one by one, each shocked and dazed to watch everything go up in smoke. Keith drove from his job to home in record time, and could not believe his eyes. My sister in law and niece arrived to comfort us, along with neighbors and friends. Thank you to all of you!
When we went there the next morning, we realized that we had lost EVERYTHING. It looked like a bomb had gone off inside the house. Lynnea and KC's rooms and the upstairs hallway and master bathroom no longer existed, the master bedroom was partially collapsed, and every room had fire damage. The living and family room areas looked like the inside of a fireplace. Barely anything was even recognizable. You wouldn't have know that a complete living room once stood there except for the skeleton of a charred warped metal frame of a coffee table in the middle of the room. Couches, tables, wall unit, tv, sectional, rugs, fish tank, desk and computer -- all evaporated into piles of wet ashes.
All we had left were the clothes we were wearing and, since we were all out at the time, our id and cell phones.
We don't have insurance and even our emergency money and my husband's last two weeks pay were in there. But honestly, that doesn't bother me -- it's the loss of all of our wedding and family pics, our kids' (and our) baby pics, their trophies and newspaper clippings, the few heirlooms inherited from grandparents, the computer drives and camera cards with years of photos on them... all gone. Those are the things we will grieve for along with our beloved pets.
Keith and I are in a motel right now with Gage, KC, Shane and Lynnea are staying with friends, and I am trying to quickly find a place where we can all heal together and appreciate that none of us were at home when the fire broke out, and we are equally thankful that none of the neighbors or firemen were hurt either.
Despite the trauma of this event, we realize that we are extremely blessed to have each other and to live in one of the most generous and supportive communities you can imagine! People have dropped off clothes, toiletries, gift cards, and Michele Jones, a friend of my son, even set up a donation site to help us rebuild our lives. I cry every time I think of how many people have told me they are praying for us and have us in their thoughts.
Until today I have truly been in shock. It felt like I was walking underwater, everything a fog, nothing quite making it into my brain. I still can't comprehend more than one sentence at a time and if I don't write something down it is forgotten immediately. I went to work on Thursday because I couldn't stand still. There, I talked about the fire as if it had happened somewhere else. Everyone was surprised at how calm and together I seemed. But it just didn't seem real. I couldn't eat, the very thought of something in my mouth gagged me. I barely slept, and dreamt of Lola when I did. I felt numb, kind of like a zombie.
Until last night. Now I am truly an emotional mess. Keith and I cry repeatedly and without warning, both for our losses and out of appreciation for the overwhelming support around us.
To those who have made donations to us, while you thought you were filling our pockets, you were really filling our hearts!!
For every thought and prayer for us, every Facebook message or text or phone call, we are eternally grateful and cannot thank everyone enough!!!!
To all of you -- THANK YOU!!!!!! We love you!!!"
My son Gage and I arrived home after an hour or so running errands and as we pulled toward the house we noticed it looked strange -- there was a deep orange glow in the windows. like the sunset was reflecting off of them.
Gage said "Our house is on fire!"
I was looking right at the house as I drove toward it, still not realizing what I was seeing, and he said it again. I still didn't get it and was about to pull into the driveway when I saw flames coming out of the window. At that instant I realized what was going on and before I could put the car in park Gage was out the door. I was only feet behind him, car still running.
We realized our puppy Lola and our ferret were inside so we ran right in the front door against the advice of our neighbor watching the fire, and ran right into a wall of smoke and heat. We could hear Lola faintly barking. We could barely see anything because there was so much smoke and flames were three feet in front of us, so we had to run back out. But then we tried crawling back inside a few times.
As we called her name her barking got closer but the smoke and flames kept us from getting more than a few feet in the door. We didn't realize that the stairs were completely engulfed in flames by then and she couldn't get downstairs. She was barking frantically, but still we couldn't get to her. Then we heard her yelping in pain! Gage ran to the back of the house to try to get in the back sliding glass doors and just as he got there the glass popped outward from the heat. He burned his hand opening the screen door but everything was on fire. And we couldn't hear her any more. It was horrific.
We watched in horror as the entire house went up in flames in the 10 or 15 minutes until the fire department arrived. The police kept asking if anyone was in the house as I was frantically calling all of the kids to see where they were. To my relief they all finally answered my calls and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
It was frustrating to watch the house disappearing into the flames as the firemen struggled to get enough water pressure to hose down the house. They must have thought I was crazy as I screamed at them to hurry up and do something! By then the house was completely consumed, flames coming out of every window and the roof. Then all efforts went into preventing it from overtaking all the rest of the units.
As the fire raged, the kids came there one by one, each shocked and dazed to watch everything go up in smoke. Keith drove from his job to home in record time, and could not believe his eyes. My sister in law and niece arrived to comfort us, along with neighbors and friends. Thank you to all of you!
When we went there the next morning, we realized that we had lost EVERYTHING. It looked like a bomb had gone off inside the house. Lynnea and KC's rooms and the upstairs hallway and master bathroom no longer existed, the master bedroom was partially collapsed, and every room had fire damage. The living and family room areas looked like the inside of a fireplace. Barely anything was even recognizable. You wouldn't have know that a complete living room once stood there except for the skeleton of a charred warped metal frame of a coffee table in the middle of the room. Couches, tables, wall unit, tv, sectional, rugs, fish tank, desk and computer -- all evaporated into piles of wet ashes.
All we had left were the clothes we were wearing and, since we were all out at the time, our id and cell phones.
We don't have insurance and even our emergency money and my husband's last two weeks pay were in there. But honestly, that doesn't bother me -- it's the loss of all of our wedding and family pics, our kids' (and our) baby pics, their trophies and newspaper clippings, the few heirlooms inherited from grandparents, the computer drives and camera cards with years of photos on them... all gone. Those are the things we will grieve for along with our beloved pets.
Keith and I are in a motel right now with Gage, KC, Shane and Lynnea are staying with friends, and I am trying to quickly find a place where we can all heal together and appreciate that none of us were at home when the fire broke out, and we are equally thankful that none of the neighbors or firemen were hurt either.
Despite the trauma of this event, we realize that we are extremely blessed to have each other and to live in one of the most generous and supportive communities you can imagine! People have dropped off clothes, toiletries, gift cards, and Michele Jones, a friend of my son, even set up a donation site to help us rebuild our lives. I cry every time I think of how many people have told me they are praying for us and have us in their thoughts.
Until today I have truly been in shock. It felt like I was walking underwater, everything a fog, nothing quite making it into my brain. I still can't comprehend more than one sentence at a time and if I don't write something down it is forgotten immediately. I went to work on Thursday because I couldn't stand still. There, I talked about the fire as if it had happened somewhere else. Everyone was surprised at how calm and together I seemed. But it just didn't seem real. I couldn't eat, the very thought of something in my mouth gagged me. I barely slept, and dreamt of Lola when I did. I felt numb, kind of like a zombie.
Until last night. Now I am truly an emotional mess. Keith and I cry repeatedly and without warning, both for our losses and out of appreciation for the overwhelming support around us.
To those who have made donations to us, while you thought you were filling our pockets, you were really filling our hearts!!
For every thought and prayer for us, every Facebook message or text or phone call, we are eternally grateful and cannot thank everyone enough!!!!
To all of you -- THANK YOU!!!!!! We love you!!!"
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