4th of July Fire Recovery for Dianne & Josiah
Just after 2am on 4th of July, I received a call from my mum Dianne that the property she shares with my brother Josiah in Quilcene, WA was on fire. Thankfully my mum, brother, their pets & both of their houses are safe; but the garage closest to my brother's house, its contents, a car, a boat & the fence were a total loss.
Fireworks were originally believed to be the cause, since both Dianne & Josiah heard what sounded like bottle rockets concerningly close to the property shortly before the fire started. The fire department's current theory is an electrical fire, since no evidence of fireworks was found at the scene, but the investigation is still ongoing.
It's been a surreal past few days, but we have much to be thankful for. My brother spotted the blaze in time for the fire department (only 5 min away) to save the rest of the property. While there were things of value in the garage, it was primarily used for storage. No-one was hurt, and both dogs & all three indoor/outdoor cats have been accounted for. (One of the cats waited the whole day before finally checking in for dinner; we're relieved that she's okay, since she often slept in that garage.)
A huge thank you to Quilcene Fire Rescue, East Jefferson Fire Rescue, Port Ludlow Fire Rescue & the Discovery Bay Fire Dept for all responding quickly & spending 2+ hours ensuring that the fire was well & truly smothered. Thanks also to the community of Quilcene for your continued support & offers of assistance.
We're slightly crispy, but alive, and extremely lucky, considering how much worse things could have been. Mum has insurance, but it could take days or weeks to sort through photos, paperwork & the charred remains. We don't know yet whether the car & boat will be covered, and there were antiques & tools & items of sentimental value in the garage that will be difficult to replace.
All funds collected from this campaign will go directly to Dianne & Josiah to help with their most immediate clean up & replacement needs. We might adjust the amount once we hear back from the insurance company. Thank you all for your encouragement so far; we'll post updates as we learn more.
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