Support the Bruton Family After Devastating Fire

Support the Bruton Family after their loss

On October 30, 2024, the Bruton family sustained an unimaginable loss. Their house was destroyed by a horrible fire, and in the fire, they lost their dog, cat, and two chinchillas. Kristi and Donnie are long-time educators; she has worked for Georgetown ISD her whole career, and Donnie is currently with Round Rock ISD. They pour their heart and soul into their school community and are always the first to help others. I am writing to ask for help for our friend and to bring awareness to what caused their fire. Please donate if you can, every little bit helps. Thank you!

Here are Kristi's words...

A little after noon on Wednesday, October 30th, my husband called and said he had received a call from the Wilco sheriff's office and we needed to go home. I drove much faster than I probably should have, praying that it wasn't a fire and that the animals were okay. When I got to my street, I saw the firetrucks and knew.

In a nutshell, there was a fire at my house. It most likely started because of a lithium-ion battery (picture attached) that was sitting on an end table in the den. It wasn't plugged into anything and had never been used. The firemen said it was one of the hottest fires they'd seen. They got Baxter, my sweet corgi boy, out and worked and worked to try to resuscitate him, but it was too late. They pulled the chinchillas', Ruby and Desdemona, cage out, but they were also gone. When we were allowed in, we started looking for Tilly, our cat, knowing that she had hidden somewhere, but not expecting her to be alive. I headed upstairs to check her preferred spots. Donnie and the gentlemen helping us both said they heard a meow from our room. I pulled a storage container out from under the bed and saw her. Without going into detail, I'll just say that she had been dead for a while—not sure where the meow came from.

Looking at the house from the outside, other than the boarded-up doors (front and back) and windows in the back, you wouldn't know anything happened. However, it's a different story on the inside. Furniture in the den is completely destroyed (picture attached). There's heat and smoke damage throughout the house. Furniture throughout the entire house, including antiques from my grandparents, will most likely be declared not salvageable. All of the electronics, even if it wasn't near the fire and "looks" fine, is trash. Mine and Donnie's clothes were in a closed closet and, hopefully, will be able to be "desmoked" and cleaned. They also took Sean's and Abigail's, but theirs were smokier and sootier, so who knows. Lots of things lost. Lots more will be lost. We're in the process of inventorying EVERYTHING. It's amazing how much stuff you forget about, or just don't think about, being in a house.

We're currently in a hotel. The insurance company is looking for a comparable house to rent, and they'll provide furniture. I'm hoping one is found soon. After they strip all the drywall away, we'll know whether the framing of the house is okay. If it's not...well, we're hoping it is and aren't going to think about having to level the house. Assuming the "bones" are okay, they're estimating 9-12 months to rebuild. (Fun fact: it took 5 months to build it originally.)

Lots of people have asked what they can do/how they can help...

1. If you have any of those blasted lithium-ion battery packs, get rid of them (correctly) or get a container that is made for them. Every fireman and fire inspector we spoke with said they're seeing more and more fires caused by these.

2. Love on and treasure your pets. I never would have imagined that I'd never see Baxter, Tilly, Ruby, and Desi alive again when I left last Wednesday morning. They died scared and alone. They didn't deserve that.

3. Neither Donnie nor I are good/fond of asking for help. (Which is why I am organizing this Go Fund Me for them)

4. If you see me and I look like I'm about to cry, there's a good chance that I am—it hits at random times. Just let me get back to my room so I can cry by myself—I don't like to cry in front of people.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. Please, please, please get rid of those batteries—I can't say this enough.

-Kristi