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As an introduction, Kit is one my best friends, and the friend I've had the longest. We've known each other for almost 30 years... Unfortunately, her and her family recently had a fire destroy the majority of their house and pretty much everything inside - either from the fire itself, or smoke/water damage. I started this on her behalf, since replacing your entire life isn't something anyone is prepared to do and they need as much help as people are willing to give.
The following is from Kit herself describing what happened:
On Tuesday September 8th around 3pm, Chris and I were getting ready to take laundry to the laundromat. I was in our bedroom when Ember came into the house from across the street where she was playing at her buddy Joshua’s house and alerted Chris to a fire. We thought she was talking about the smoke from a nature park up on 56th that had been burning. Chris went outside to check, then came back in to tell me to get out of the house as the neighbor’s yard was on fire and beginning to consume our storage garage in the alley. Ember was back at Joshua’s house with his mother Megan, so I ran to the back to see what I could, then went back out front to our elderly neighbor’s home since it was out of control. Our neighbor Bill is retired military and works nights, and his wife Diane has some medical issues. I was seconds away from a panic attack as the cedar tree between our house began to go up like tinder and I couldn’t get an answer to my knocking. When Bill made it to the door, I couldn't quite get across to him and Diane how serious it was. Thankfully they were up, aware and people were there to coax them out. During this time, our neighbor Kevin and Steve, a gentleman who had stopped when he saw the fire and smoke, had been trying to get the hose over our fence to put out what was ravaging the garage. The spigot ripped out of the side of the house rendering it useless, but I still appreciate their fast action. Unfortunately, it was too far gone to save. I was running back to the front door when Steve came up the sidewalk and asked me if anyone was inside. I wasn’t aware he was filming, but there is video available. I didn’t know Chris was moving the car for the fire engines that weren't there yet and panicked when I couldn’t find him right away. Steve then went into our home to make sure no one was in there. Chris appears at the end of the video clip as Steve leaves the house. When Steve reaches our bedroom, you can see the flames through the window of the back door. There was no smoke yet, just flame, hence no smoke alarm. The fact that no one was hurt is amazing.
We lost most of our stuff, but we are whole and unhurt.
Many items lost were for the wedding that had to be put off due to Covid-19. We lost all the DIY decorations, clothing, jewelry, accessories etc. We literally had the clothes on our backs, and it was laundry day, so… Just thinking about replacing our electronics is a doozy by itself, let alone the exercise equipment, storage containers, my kitchen items, furniture, books and Embers toys and school supplies. We have renter’s insurance, but it likely will not cover everything we need it to.
Thankfully, our neighbors are wonderful people. They have fed and clothed us, let us use their water and electricity, another is allowing us to use her RV as we work, another has watched Ember so we can sift through the rubble then store what we find in their garage. The kindness of these amazing people is incredibly humbling.
Our struggle now is to get the rest of what can be saved out of the house before the rain starts, and to find a home. We need a 4 bedroom in the area of where we were. We’ve lived in this area for 6 years so leaving our community is really going to sting.
The following is from Kit herself describing what happened:
On Tuesday September 8th around 3pm, Chris and I were getting ready to take laundry to the laundromat. I was in our bedroom when Ember came into the house from across the street where she was playing at her buddy Joshua’s house and alerted Chris to a fire. We thought she was talking about the smoke from a nature park up on 56th that had been burning. Chris went outside to check, then came back in to tell me to get out of the house as the neighbor’s yard was on fire and beginning to consume our storage garage in the alley. Ember was back at Joshua’s house with his mother Megan, so I ran to the back to see what I could, then went back out front to our elderly neighbor’s home since it was out of control. Our neighbor Bill is retired military and works nights, and his wife Diane has some medical issues. I was seconds away from a panic attack as the cedar tree between our house began to go up like tinder and I couldn’t get an answer to my knocking. When Bill made it to the door, I couldn't quite get across to him and Diane how serious it was. Thankfully they were up, aware and people were there to coax them out. During this time, our neighbor Kevin and Steve, a gentleman who had stopped when he saw the fire and smoke, had been trying to get the hose over our fence to put out what was ravaging the garage. The spigot ripped out of the side of the house rendering it useless, but I still appreciate their fast action. Unfortunately, it was too far gone to save. I was running back to the front door when Steve came up the sidewalk and asked me if anyone was inside. I wasn’t aware he was filming, but there is video available. I didn’t know Chris was moving the car for the fire engines that weren't there yet and panicked when I couldn’t find him right away. Steve then went into our home to make sure no one was in there. Chris appears at the end of the video clip as Steve leaves the house. When Steve reaches our bedroom, you can see the flames through the window of the back door. There was no smoke yet, just flame, hence no smoke alarm. The fact that no one was hurt is amazing.
We lost most of our stuff, but we are whole and unhurt.
Many items lost were for the wedding that had to be put off due to Covid-19. We lost all the DIY decorations, clothing, jewelry, accessories etc. We literally had the clothes on our backs, and it was laundry day, so… Just thinking about replacing our electronics is a doozy by itself, let alone the exercise equipment, storage containers, my kitchen items, furniture, books and Embers toys and school supplies. We have renter’s insurance, but it likely will not cover everything we need it to.
Thankfully, our neighbors are wonderful people. They have fed and clothed us, let us use their water and electricity, another is allowing us to use her RV as we work, another has watched Ember so we can sift through the rubble then store what we find in their garage. The kindness of these amazing people is incredibly humbling.
Our struggle now is to get the rest of what can be saved out of the house before the rain starts, and to find a home. We need a 4 bedroom in the area of where we were. We’ve lived in this area for 6 years so leaving our community is really going to sting.