Larry and Martha Fire Recovery

At about 6pm on Tuesday January 27th, Martha was cooking dinner and smelt smoke coming from the basement. Tylor opened the door to find the room filled with smoke and flames. They called 911 and gathered the animals and got out of the house. The fire department arrived within a few minutes and were able to put the fire out.

We watched as fire truck after fire truck pulled up to the house. Both Thornton and North Metro Fire Departments were on scene which included seven big trucks, four police cars, three chief vehicles, an ambulance and the streets surrounding the house were closed. There were many firefighters walking in and out of the house and even more standing by waiting to help if needed. Over the next hour or so trucks began to leave one by one until one was left. They stayed until the investigation team showed up and then they left too.

 For the next four hours the investigation team went in and out of the house while we stood there watching them wondering how much damage there was. Around 10pm the investigator called the truck back because they found a hot spot in the wall behind the sink in the kitchen. From the front yard we watched as they pulled the cabinets in the kitchen down and smashed the wall to get to the spot that needed to be put out.  This is when we started to realize this was far more serious than we were hoping for.

Finally about 11 pm the fire chief escorted us into the house to see the damage. As we walked through the house we were speechless. The damage both from the fire and from what was required by the fire department was extensive.  More than that was the smoke damage...every room in the entire house was covered in a black film, every vent had damage from flames and smoke and the walls were covered in smoke residue.

There was nothing to say and everyone was very quiet. We were only allowed to be there with the fire chief and we were very limited in the time we could be there.  We grabbed Larry's medication, a pair of shoes for Martha and walked out of the house and watched as the fire department put a bright orange sign on the doors declaring the house in-inhabitable. 

The next day we returned to the house to gather what we could which included a few articles of clothing which we hoped could be washed the important paperwork and a few personal items.

While the investigation is still being conducted it's believed the fire started in the dryer from what is believed to have been an electrical problem either with the dryer itself or from a broken water pipe that may have caused the dryer to short out.

Larry, Martha, Tylor, Arron and Brenda have lost everything. They are staying with Monk and Kenda for now but are hoping to find a new home soon where they will need to replace almost everything. We've been asked by so many people how to help them so we set this site up to help as they need items in the days and weeks to come and then when they move into their new home and have to replace all their furniture and household items.  Your help and support is greatly appreciated.

The pictures below show the damage to the house