Heather & JD’s Fire Fund

Hi friends, family and community members. My name is Erica Scott, and I am fundraising for my sister Heather Barber, her partner JD Kreiger and their children Ella and Zach. (Don’t forget their lab Luna). They lost their home and everything they owned in this world to the Peter Fire on July 14th.

Thankfully Heather was able to escape the inferno with their infant Zach while JD was at work in Redding and Ella was out of town visiting family. After making the initial 911 call, Heather recounted this heart wrenching tale to me.

“Our neighbor’s house caught on fire yesterday, and I mean it actually blew up. I was home with the baby and my dog in our pjs when I heard an explosively loud boom. 30 minutes later I heard and felt an even louder explosion. We went outside to see what had happened and saw a huge fire next door and a huge black cloud with flames engulfing our field and neighboring area. We were surrounded by dry fields and in a canyon, which I knew put us in even more danger at that moment.

I called 911 and they said trucks were on the way and that I needed to leave immediately. I grabbed the baby and my dog and jumped in the car and got out as fast as I could, with literally the clothes on our backs. My partner JD arrived to meet me at the end of our road at the same time as 30 fire trucks, water trucks and dozers that quickly occupied our driveway. Our entire house, shop and other buildings were completely gone to the fire within a matter of minutes.

We have lost everything we have ever owned- our home we raised our kids in and built our life together in. I’m

thankful for my quick thinking and the fact we were able to escape. We are all safe and alive and that’s what matters. But I didn’t think about grabbing JD dads ashes when I left. I didn’t take anything with me. I didn’t think about grabbing anything but my kid and dog. I thank god I was able to get out when I did.

We are completely devastated and don’t know where to start, but we have amazing friends and family and they worked fast and were able to get us the basics. We’re currently in a safe place while we think about our next steps and the very long road we have ahead of us. We have so much to think about right now.

This is one of those things you never think will happen to you, until it does.”

Our family is so thankful that Heather, JD and the kids are safe now, and we are looking for any support people can offer them. Their cat is currently at the vet pending a $1200 bill. He ran under the house when the fire started and sustained serious injuries. Anything you can contribute and any way you can support them will help their growing family get through these next very challenging steps. This will no doubt be a struggle. We believe in the strength and support of community and hope we can come together to help my sister and her partner and children get through this. Thanks and love to all of you.