Long sad night. : (

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Stormy Peak
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Long sad night. : (

Post by Stormy Peak »

I let my dogs out, around 2:30 am, and about 5 minutes later, let them in again. There was a very cold wind storm raging, and as soon as the dogs came in, I got into bed and kicked off the lights to see if I could go back to sleep.

Then around 3 am... I hear my screen door open and someone knocked on my door. Neither, AU nor Jaya barked...but stood there and growled. I live alone, so it scared me - I do live close enough to a highway that my house can be seen and it's really dark here as neither my 2 neighbors nor I, use over head lights to light the area...but the Dept. of Transportation's big lot lights do lighten up the north side of my house a little.

Anyway, I did not turn on my lights...incase someone was trying to see into the house via the cracks in the window blinds..and I yelled. "WHO'S THERE?
Nothing... So I repeated this at full volume about 3 more times and nothing...and the dogs are still growling and looking at the door and I pulled my revolver from the nightstand.
and with my 4th yell... I said... "I have have a handgun... Do NOT try to come into my house!" and again I yelled "Who's Out There!?"

Then I hear a woman's voice i recognize, "It's your neighbor...*gives her name*....and then a garbled...
"....house is on fire!" The wind was blowing and it was really loud...so that is why they were not hearing me, nor I them...plus when I opened the door there were fire trucks and other vehicles up my alley.... they had come without sirens to the fire.
(there's almost no traffic here at 3am...so no reason to wake everyone up with sirens).

I still didn't know if they meant the south side of my house was on fire...or if their house was on fire. I stepped out of my house and looked over and their house was engulfed in flames. : ( I was sooo terrible... I started crying for them.

The two young women were in thin dresses...so I went into my home and grabbed them some blankets and we walked up my dirt alley towards the road...not actually walking in the alley as it was too close to their house...but off the side of the alley were there is an abandoned single wide trailer who's yard runs along side my alley.

We meet up with the husband/dad of the women...he managed to get out of the house with a heavy shirt and blue jeans...I offered him a blanket too, but he said he was ok. They own 2 dogs, a blue heeler puppy named Bindi, and a female Rottweiler named Freya. I asked if they were able to save the dogs...and they said they got both dogs out, but then Bindi panicked and took off...but they were able to find her in about 15 minutes and both dogs were safe in their pick up truck that they managed to get out of their drive way and into the drive way of another neighbor close by.

I am just so glad everyone got out ok...but so sad for them. They had just finished remodeling their kitchen, and last week, they took out the sliding glass door that I can see from my back yard...and they replaced it with a French door. Plus they tore out the smallish wood deck...and they were working on a larger tiled patio that had a few stairs leading up to the French door.

Here are some photos...of what's left of their home.

Street View...front of the house:
Image

View from my backyard...their backyard...you can see the stacks of new tiles they were going to use for the patio...the French doors they installed last week are totally gone. : (

Image

Close up of damage
Image

The super strong wind...almost had the huge pine trees in front of their house in danger...the firemen were watering those trees down...I was lucky that the wind was blowing away from my home and not towards it, as there is a propane tank between our homes and also some still dried out from winter trees and bushes. Even standing on my back porch with the strong wind blowing the fire the other direction I could still feel the heat from it.

They finally got the fire out around 5am...but the firemen stayed there until around 7 am...which is about the time I went back to sleep. I woke up at 9am, and took those photos around 10 am. It was still blowing a cold wind and raining slightly...it also got cold enough that we had a very light trace of snow showing in some areas on the ground but the rain was melting it.

I've offered to let them shelter their dogs at my home if they needed too, and told them too, that if they needed anything else I could help them with, then to ask. I don't have much, but I can take in one of them at least if they were in need of a sofa to sleep on....and I told them in the following days, if they were doing stuff around their property they were welcomed to come over and get warmed up...have a cup of coffee...use the bathroom or what ever. But they said they should be able to find some help from family around town...I just wish I could do more for them.

Stormy
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Rochelle Bos
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Re: Long sad night. : (

Post by Rochelle Bos »

That is so heartbreaking. I am glad everyone is only though!

House fires, well fire in general, is one of my biggest fears. In the townhouse complex beside our house one of the strips had a fire late last year, I didn’t sleep well for months after. 💔
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Lori Hamill
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Re: Long sad night. : (

Post by Lori Hamill »

So sorry to hear this about your neighbors house, Stormy. Glad they all got out okay and also their dogs are safe. I hope that they have home owners insurance to take some of the bite out of the disaster. I can only imagine what it must be like to watch your house and all of the memories made there go up in flames. Hoping for the best for them.
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Stormy Peak
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Re: Long sad night. : (

Post by Stormy Peak »

Thanks for the replies.

When I was in the 5th grade, my family had a 2nd hand store...one of the biggest buildings in my town...it use to have been a storage warehouse before my dad converted it into a store/auction house. We had a professionally trained dog, a doberman, named Schatzi (German for 'sweetheart'). One night the old electrical wiring caught the sawdust insulation on fire...it smoldered for hours...and then the store caught fire and was and still is...the biggest fire this town had ever seen. As far as it goes...at least Schatzi had a gentler death than being burned alive. We found her by the old dock door..with her nose near a hole as she tried to get fresh air...but according to our vet...she probably lost conscience before finally dying.

I can see vividly remember my dad getting as near to the building as the firefighters would allow...circling it and calling for his dog. Our family's whole income was burning and all he worried about was rescuing Shatzi....but by then, she had passed on some hours before.

I felt so helpless the other night...seeing the looks on my neighbor's faces as they watched their home burn....just wished I could have helped them -- all I could to is shed some tears with them. : (

And as stated...some things can be replaced...sofas, beds, end tables..appliances...but there are other things that can't...family heirlooms, artwork, photo, letters...etc. At least now days...people can back up photos to sites and not be at risk of losing them.

I was twice shook by the other night...that knock and no answer. I'm a woman who lives alone in a kind of isolated spot...and it scared me badly in knowing someone was at my door but not replying when I kept loudly asking 'Who there.' Then, in seeing the fire... my heart was beating so hard...and I was so stressed. I have high blood pressure and it took me a long time to get over that huge amount of adrenaline that hit me.

I have yet to see the neighbors checking out their burned out home... I might have missed them, but usually my dogs will make a slight woof or stand up if they hear car doors down the alley. I know one of my worse fears is having my home burn...especially if I couldn't get my pets out....but even then it would be horrible to lose absolutely all of one's possessions ...even one's clothing and begin again in trying to get all those small and large things replaced for another home.

Stormy
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