Help Curt Replace his Home & Life
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“Kasey
Please call your dad’s phone
This is a paramedic
We are raking (sic) him to
harborviww (sic)”
That is the text that I received from my father’s phone at 18:15 on Sunday evening, 9/25/2016 as my wife and I lay on the couch watching Sunday Night Football and recovering from a day at the Seahawks game. I had missed a call from him 33 minutes prior with plans to call him back later that evening…
I called immediately after the text and began the most stressful evening of my life, thus far:
Shortly after he was finished listening to the Seahawks embarrass that team from Santa Clara, at or around 5:45 PM (PST) on Sunday, 9/25/2016, my father, Curt Denson, was investigating a propane leak in his 1973 Prowler Travel-Trailer (a vehicle that, while the bane of many a family member’s existence, was very dear to him and was his home) while at his storage facility in Edmonds, WA, when his stove, and essentially the entire trailer, “exploded” with him right at ground-zero. I use quotation marks on the word “exploded” because semantics are important, and the Edmonds Fire Marshall informed me that this was not technically an explosion, but a “gas-induced fire”, although I think anyone at the center of the action might view it differently. In spite of experiencing the close-up “explosion” moments prior, my dad was able to fight the ensuing fire with three extinguishers, pull his truck and trailer away from the building, disconnect both propane tanks and haul them to safety prior to the Edmonds Fire Department arriving on scene to fully extinguish the blaze. I do not know if he pulled the truck/trailer away from the building to save the structure or to save his dog, Caby… I suspect the latter… but he accomplished both.
However, the incident did inflict severe burns to his hand and face, as well as trigger the release of a previously encapsulated and dormant piece of shrapnel in his other hand leading to him spending the next two evenings in Harborview Medical Center. He did have near constant attendance and support from our amazing family… there were over a dozen of us there that first evening; his sister, Jan, even getting on the road from Portland immediately to be there by 1:00 AM and spend the rest of the night with him.
Curt was discharged from Harborview yesterday (as I write this) afternoon, 9/27/2016, and is beginning his recovery at his sister Denny’s house in Marysville. Recovery will not come easy, and there will almost surely be medical bills to manage. Oddly (to most normal humans), this “explosion” doesn’t even rank in the Top 2 (and perhaps not even in the Top 5) in his life; those belong to B40 Rockets and the Vietnam War. My dad is either an 80% or 100% disabled veteran (seemingly dependent upon the VA’s whim, but that is another story) and has multiple pre-existing medical conditions to contend with. As you can guess from the narrative above and see from the photos, he also lost his home and many other things very important to him both personally and logistically.
Those who know Curt know that he would give you the shirt off of his back, the shoes off of his feet, the money out of his wallet (when he has some there J), help you build your new house and re-wire your old one; he’ll tell you you’re dumb for buttoning the shirt wrong, tying your shoelaces with the incorrect knot, spending the money anywhere other than Costco or a swap-meet, using a 2x4 instead of a 2x6 and anything at all you touch on the electrical system, but there isn’t anything that he wouldn’t do to help someone in need. He truly has a “heart of gold”, but now he needs help, and I am hopeful that some who read this can lend a hand.
We are all still in shock with what happened and the ensuing fallout and are asking for as much support for Curt from family and friends as possible. As I said above, he lost his home and essentially everything in it, in addition to incurring whatever medical expenses came with his visit and stay in the ER and follow-on medical care. With that said, we need help to fund Curt’s medical bills not covered by the Veterans Administration. Every contribution helps, whether it is $1, $100, or $1000, your gift is sincerely appreciated! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping!
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or if you'd like to contact Curt directly. I know he would love to hear from all family and friends. I am truly eternally grateful to my family who have helped so much already and to any who even consider helping my dad in his time of need.
Sincerely,
Kasey Denson
Curt’s Son
Post-Script:
The story at the link below has few details, including some inaccuracies, but it gives a little more information:
http://lynnwoodtoday.com/travel-trailer-fire-public-storage-facility-sunday-sends-man-harborview/
Please call your dad’s phone
This is a paramedic
We are raking (sic) him to
harborviww (sic)”
That is the text that I received from my father’s phone at 18:15 on Sunday evening, 9/25/2016 as my wife and I lay on the couch watching Sunday Night Football and recovering from a day at the Seahawks game. I had missed a call from him 33 minutes prior with plans to call him back later that evening…
I called immediately after the text and began the most stressful evening of my life, thus far:
Shortly after he was finished listening to the Seahawks embarrass that team from Santa Clara, at or around 5:45 PM (PST) on Sunday, 9/25/2016, my father, Curt Denson, was investigating a propane leak in his 1973 Prowler Travel-Trailer (a vehicle that, while the bane of many a family member’s existence, was very dear to him and was his home) while at his storage facility in Edmonds, WA, when his stove, and essentially the entire trailer, “exploded” with him right at ground-zero. I use quotation marks on the word “exploded” because semantics are important, and the Edmonds Fire Marshall informed me that this was not technically an explosion, but a “gas-induced fire”, although I think anyone at the center of the action might view it differently. In spite of experiencing the close-up “explosion” moments prior, my dad was able to fight the ensuing fire with three extinguishers, pull his truck and trailer away from the building, disconnect both propane tanks and haul them to safety prior to the Edmonds Fire Department arriving on scene to fully extinguish the blaze. I do not know if he pulled the truck/trailer away from the building to save the structure or to save his dog, Caby… I suspect the latter… but he accomplished both.
However, the incident did inflict severe burns to his hand and face, as well as trigger the release of a previously encapsulated and dormant piece of shrapnel in his other hand leading to him spending the next two evenings in Harborview Medical Center. He did have near constant attendance and support from our amazing family… there were over a dozen of us there that first evening; his sister, Jan, even getting on the road from Portland immediately to be there by 1:00 AM and spend the rest of the night with him.
Curt was discharged from Harborview yesterday (as I write this) afternoon, 9/27/2016, and is beginning his recovery at his sister Denny’s house in Marysville. Recovery will not come easy, and there will almost surely be medical bills to manage. Oddly (to most normal humans), this “explosion” doesn’t even rank in the Top 2 (and perhaps not even in the Top 5) in his life; those belong to B40 Rockets and the Vietnam War. My dad is either an 80% or 100% disabled veteran (seemingly dependent upon the VA’s whim, but that is another story) and has multiple pre-existing medical conditions to contend with. As you can guess from the narrative above and see from the photos, he also lost his home and many other things very important to him both personally and logistically.
Those who know Curt know that he would give you the shirt off of his back, the shoes off of his feet, the money out of his wallet (when he has some there J), help you build your new house and re-wire your old one; he’ll tell you you’re dumb for buttoning the shirt wrong, tying your shoelaces with the incorrect knot, spending the money anywhere other than Costco or a swap-meet, using a 2x4 instead of a 2x6 and anything at all you touch on the electrical system, but there isn’t anything that he wouldn’t do to help someone in need. He truly has a “heart of gold”, but now he needs help, and I am hopeful that some who read this can lend a hand.
We are all still in shock with what happened and the ensuing fallout and are asking for as much support for Curt from family and friends as possible. As I said above, he lost his home and essentially everything in it, in addition to incurring whatever medical expenses came with his visit and stay in the ER and follow-on medical care. With that said, we need help to fund Curt’s medical bills not covered by the Veterans Administration. Every contribution helps, whether it is $1, $100, or $1000, your gift is sincerely appreciated! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping!
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or if you'd like to contact Curt directly. I know he would love to hear from all family and friends. I am truly eternally grateful to my family who have helped so much already and to any who even consider helping my dad in his time of need.
Sincerely,
Kasey Denson
Curt’s Son
Post-Script:
The story at the link below has few details, including some inaccuracies, but it gives a little more information:
http://lynnwoodtoday.com/travel-trailer-fire-public-storage-facility-sunday-sends-man-harborview/
Organizer
Kasey Denson
Organizer
Edmonds, WA
