Volunteer firefighter loses home & pets in fire

Please help replace the home of Scott, a volunteer firefighter, & his grandson, who literally just lost EVERYTHING in a fire. It's truly heartbreaking.

Our friend Scott is a 62 year old man on disability (limited/fixed income) and a great guy who is raising his 15 year old grandson Aiden in Antelope, Oregon. This is a guy who bends over backwards to help out a stranger, or a neighbor and never expects anything in return. A couple of weeks ago, while he was in the hospital for gallstones, a benign tumor and other internal problems, which were causing extreme pain, someone burned down their house. They lost their home, garage, everything in it and four little dogs. Devastating. But wait, there's more. His house, along with the entire town, has no fire insurance. No money to rebuild. They are now homeless & hopeless.

Authorities suspect arson, but there's been no ruling yet from the state fire inspector & even so, I don't know what good it does them.

They are crashing on the couch of neighbors and Scott is still dealing with health issues and is hoping to not lose the use of his one good hand.

Central Oregon Daily News video/story - click here

2nd Central Oregon Daily news update on our project

We've been trying to figure out how we could help them and this is what we've come up with and this is HOW YOU CAN HELP: We found a used manufactured home of similar size to the one that burned and Michael and I loaned him $10,000 to buy it. It's a great deal cuz they are worth much more and a new one is anywhere from $85-100K. The remaining cost to split it, put 6 axels and 12 tires under it, weather wrap and braces, install tongues and deliver from Terrebonne, Oregon to Antelope, Oregon will be $12,000. Clean up of the fire sight and set-up on his old home site will be another $10 -15k. The gentleman he was purchasing his lost home from, generously forgave the rest of his debt so he owns the land now. There will probably also be $2-4,000 in permits to make this all happen.

We just need to raise enough money to complete the project. As you can see, the total cost is going to be between $35 & $40,000.

Please do two things for me: #1 donate what you can for Scott & Aiden, and #2 share this post in every way possible. Thank you.

Also, if you or someone you know has the equipment, know-how or ability to facilitate any part of this project, please contact me to discuss how to make it happen. Thank you.

Again, please help to bless them in the true spirit of the season. Thank you.

Shalom and Michael Hilgendorf