Friends of Joshua Barbre family have started this go fund me page to help the family pay bills, try to rebuild their home, and lives. The Barbre family suffered storm damage that led to a subsequent house fire from downed power lines. We have added Josh's description of the devastation from the storm and the house fire.

In Josh's words: During the recent storm that swept through Blair, a large tree fell across our backyard, landing on our garage and bringing down the main power line. The tree also came to rest on the service line connected to our house and a nearby streetlight. When the power line was pulled down, it bent the service mast on our roof and caused significant electrical damage.

Due to the extent of the outage, OPPD informed us that power could be out for up to five days. On Sunday, we spent time with friends and family to escape the heat and made arrangements to stay elsewhere. That evening, we returned briefly to the house to gather some belongings and discovered the interior filled with smoke.

We immediately called 911. Blair Fire Department responded and determined that, despite the outage, the electrical line running from the panel to the furnace was somehow still live. It had overheated, melted, and ignited surrounding insulation and wood, resulting in a slow-burning fire that had smoldered for hours across several rooms.

All hotspots were located and extinguished, but the damage is significant. While there is some structural damage, the majority of the destruction was caused by smoke. We are currently facing a 2–4-month timeline for cleaning and repairs.

Thankfully, everyone is safe and unharmed.