I am writing today because a tragedy has recently hit my neighborhood and it has got me thinking about how fast you can lose everything in this world.
A few nights ago, I came home to a cop car blocking off the entrance to my street. As I pulled up with my blinker on he came up to my window. I asked what happened and explained that I lived on the street. He responded by telling me there had been a major fire destroying a house. A rush adrenaline pumped through my veins in the form of fear as I asked which house it was.
He pointed it out and relief flooded me when I realized it was not my house. This was short lived because that relief was replaced with extreme sorrow for that family. It was one of the newer families on the block, but we had grown to get to know them.
The cop moved his vehicle so I could find a place on the street to park for the night, since the fire trucks were still parked in the middle of the street investigating the cause of the fire. I couldn’t help but stare as I walked to my house. The woman of the house, Kathy, saw me and asked if she could help me with something. Not knowing how to react to the situation I stammered that I was going to my house and rushed away. Looking back I felt that I was rude, however, I was simply feeling an extreme sense of fascination and felt guilty. These people lost everything today and here I was gawking at the destruction.
Once I was home, my mom explained to me that she had been home when the fire started. She heard a loud boom and rushed to the window to see the entire back of the house engulfed in smoke and flames. She went across the street to see if the family had gotten out safe, which they had, except for the family service dog. Kathy tried to run back in to retrieve him but my mom and the others stopped her. Moments after something collapsed in the house and fire came rushing down the stairs and out of the doorway. The dog was the only casualty but another thing to add to the extreme loss the family has to suffer.
The official report is that the fire was started by faulty wiring. Since we had been very dry this season the house was up in flames in seconds. Jim stated that he saw the smoke first and then saw the flames. He then proceeded to rush his family to safety.
We are all so grateful they got out safe and have been doing all we can to help them in their time of need. I can only imagine what it would be like to lose every thing I own, my room, my cameras, laptop, clothes, car keys or my dog in a matter of minutes! It makes my heart ache just thinking about it. That is why I am writing this. I took these photos to ease my fascination and show just how destructive a fire can be.
They have a GoFundMe page to help them recover from this tragedy. Every dollar helps! If you would like to help support their recovery, please visit, Kathy & Jims Fire Recovery Fund. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!