Help Nala recover and rebuild our Home

Hello everyone, my name is Evan Mosbrucker and I'm reaching out to share a story of terrible heartbreak and loss. Bethany Schatz, her 6 month old pup Nala, and I have been living in my 2 story pop-up box truck tiny house conversion that we designed and built over the past 6 months and have been spending the past 3 months traveling the country.  We are currently in Tucson, Arizona, and everything has been great so far up until 2 days ago. One of our solar charge controllers malfunctioned and overcharged one of the battery packs starting a fire inside the truck on the main/lower level.  At the time, I was working inside a large brand new apartment building that is in early construction.  The truck was in a large open dirt parking lot across the block where Bethany and Nala were up top sleeping when they woke up to the thick black smoke rolling up through the stairway.  They were trapped and quickly losing breathable air and visibility.  Fortunately Bethany was able to kick open a small opening in one of the seams of tin sheeting that was bolted to the metal framework. Attempting to somehow get  scared nala through the opening that was +15ft in hight off the ground was not possible and had to make a decision fast. So she quickly squeezed through the razor sharp edged opening head first and began screaming for help.  Thank God a couple that was driving by saw her hanging walf way out the side and immediately called 911 and came to catch her as she climbed the rest of the way out.  She ran to the cab and started to inch her way into the truck with a fire extinguisher, confident she would be able to reach Nala within seconds and rescue her... but batteries can be completely unpredictable when burning and the fire only continued to grow. By time her extinguisher had ran out, the fire dept showed up and removed her from the truck.  Thats when she ran into the building where i was working and painfully gasping for air began screaming my name.  When I heard her you guys, I cant even explain the panick that took over my mind, something must be terribly wrong... I had never heard her sound so scared.  I dropped everything and when I met her in the hall she looked as if she were about to collapse and could barely get a breath in to tell me that our house was on fire and our Nala was trapped upstairs.  I sprinted as fast as I could while frantically looking all around me to see if I could spot Nala anywhere, but nothing.  Just the firefighters starting to open the back door and pulling our stuff outside to the ground and spraying water over everything. I asked if they got her out and they said no.  I pushed past them trying to get inside but i was quickly grabbed and held back by two of the four firemen there.  By that time Bethany had made it back and must have realized the same terrifying fact, began crying and repeating "You have to get her out! Please, you have to get her out now!"  With everyone sort of struggling with each other finally the fire chief sternly yelled at us, "Stop! Your dog is dead! There's no way any animal could have survived up there with that heavy of smoke for that long." ...... Bethany melted in a sobbing heap onto the ground crying Nalas name.  I was in shock, couldn't wrap my head around what was going on in front of me, this couldn't be real.  I mean, I was just working up until a few minutes ago and now here i am standing in front of my home literally burning up everything i own and love... how could this be real?   I snapped back to reality when I heard something ill never forget.. Nalas desperate cries for help coming from up top.  She was still alive, but was now suffering terrible burns from the burning walls and all our clothing located upstairs.  I immediately leaped up onto the hood of the truck and climbed the walls trying to rip the hot sheets of tin off with my bare hands trying everything I could to get to her, when her cries stopped.   There are no words to describe the feelings that were rushing through my head at that moment, but all of a sudden one brave firefighter came walking out the back of the truck holding a severely burned but very much alive Nala in his arms!  She is currently being cared for by the best of the best in a skilled and very loving vetrenarians home/foster home.  The Pima Animal Care Center and all the amazing doctors and volunteers have been a true miracle in this whole tragic ordeal.  We could not have asked for a better group of loving and caring people to be constantly fighting to make sure our Nala is going to be ok.  Bethany was taken to the ER by ambulance for some minor cuts from her escape and smoke inhalation.  Other than the black stuff she is still coughing up she is physically ok as am I.  We are both still very shook up and are missing Nala badly.  We pray that the donations will get us back on our feet and rebuilding asap so that we can have a home to bring her back to.


So our home and everything we owned was lost in the truck, including all of both our personal tools and equipment needed for work. We are independent contractors who specialize in flooring installs.  Floor to Finish has been my business for going on 10 years now and unfortunately thousands of dollars worth of tools were melted down to nothing . We are currently staying in a motel and are paid up for a couple more days thanks to the help from Red Cross.  I know times are tough for everyone out there right now.   To any of you who know me or Bethany you know that we never ask for help from anyone, especially where asking for money is concerned.  Its a first for us both, and if it weren't for Nala we wouldn't be asking at all.  If you are not able to donate we would still appreciate an encouraging word from family, old friends , and anyone who has taken the time to read this.  Please keep us in your prayers.  We are recieving mail at : 1501 south cherrybell stra, Tucson  Arizona 85726 if anyone would like to write to us. 

  During our travels, we have constantly been approached by people just totally intrigued, and love the truck  and say it was the coolest thing ever, truly one of a kind. Many have asked if we documented the build process and blogged it or started a YouTube channel, which we did not. Many people can't afford rent these days and a self sustainable build like this would accommodate well for many people.  And with the setup we designed, leaves so much extra room that im confident families could live in one full time as we did.  To be honest  I wasn't sure if I could do it initially, but its been so great and don't miss a stationary home a single bit. If anyone would like to donate to help recover losses, medical expenses for Nala and Bethany, and/or rebuild our home we would greatly appreciate it. If we raise enough money to rebuild the truck, I will document the process this time around and make a step by step instructional digital book of the build and send whoever donates and would like one a copy. Thank you everyone for the time and support.  God bless you all and be safe out there.

Update 3/20/2021: With the help of our family and friends we were able to almost fully rebuild the truck. Unfortunately while welding our last wall on the second story, some molten metal dropped down through the window and the truck caught fire again. We did not notice the fire until it was too late. I was able to get ahold of 1 of my 4 fire extinguishers and almost had the fire out. Until my lithium batteries got too hot and it was over like hardcore bottlerockets those batteries were flying and after 5 minutes once the fire truck came there was nothing left of the truck and our home. This time it was a total loss. Red cross and a close family member helped us purchase our $500 rv and thats where we are at now. Nala has healed up wonderfully and has returned to her normal self. Shes a trooper and a great family member. Very thankful for Pima Animal Care Center and our friends and families support.