At least none of us were hurt.....

Just thought I would give a quick blurb here and let you know what is going on. I received a call yesterday at work from my wife that said I needed to come home. I asked her why, she said our house was on fire. Upon getting home I find that it has destroyed everything and it is still burning. I keep my scense about me, the firemen had pull the meter box so I got the wires disconnected from the house so we could turn power back on to the garage. I then used the tractor to take stuff the firemen were retrieving from the house back to the garage. While they were taking stuff out, none of it is really "saved." It all has parts either melted/singed or whatever. I was able to grab a few pictures today, but I forgot the camera in the car and the hotel is full so we are parked around back, I will try to post them tomorrow sometime.

The fireman got a few of Keagan's toys and some shirts. They didn't get anything of Alexandrea's. We have been able to get to Monica and my closet yet. The only clothes we had were what we had put in the camper to go out last night.

I love the community we live in. We had probably 35 - 40 firefighters from three different townships w/ probably 8 or 10 firetrucks working to save our house all because they want to help their neighbor not because it is a job. We have had neighbor come and give us money that we've never met before. Churches have taken up donations and given it to us - even though we've never set foot in their door.

The amazing thing that happened is, even though the fire started in the office by the computer. We were able to retrieve pictures in photo albums stored across the room. Last night I looked over at the front of our garage. There were probably 20 people sitting on the concrete in front our garage pulling pictures out of albums and drying them to try to keep them from getting ruined. They've estimated somewhere between 5 & 10k pictures they've save. So far I'm out of our digital pictures. I know they were on one hard drive, so I'm going to look into some data recovery companies to see how much they would charge to try to recover as the computer is laying in front of the house right now. Right now we are staying at the Hampton Inn. The adjuster is supposed to be there Monday. We'll see what happens then, but the house is a total loss.

We will rebuild, it will be bigger, better and strong. At least none of us were hurt or killed and no firefighters were injured in fighting the blaze.

Man, that sucks! Hope everything works out for you and your family. It's times like these when everyone pulls together. All the best to you and yours!

How old are your children? We have clothes and toys here we dont use anymore. But our kids are young. 3 and 7. I am sorry to hear this. We had some friends loose a house. Its a devastating lose. Our prayers to you.

Terrible! Losing one's house is second to losing a child or spouse. Our heartfelt prayers for a quick recovery. Last week we were out your way in Ironton, Portsmouth, Chillicothe and Columbus, finishing soutwest of Cleveland..

What an ordeal. Sorry to hear about this Jim. For just a day later you sound like you have your wits about you. I'm iimpressed. Thank goodness no one was hurt. I sure feel for you, Monica and the kids. You all will be in my prayers.
PM me a list of things you need REAL bad. I might be able to help.
My wife and I have clothes we have moved from our main closet and eventually we take them to the Salvation Army. If the sizes are close I'll get em to you guy.

We are sorry for your loss but are grateful that it was only material and not life. You and your family will be in our prayers. It sounds like you have a great group of neighbors and friends and I can see you are thankful for them. There should be more of that in this world. Post some info on how we can help. You may be working things out ok but maybe a gift to one of the local groups that have helped you would be in order.

Wow,

A night mare I have a lot of losing everything. I know insurance covers the majority but the pics other stuff can't be recovered. Big thing here is your family is alive and well. My prayers are with you and your family. Great the community came together like they did.

murph

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support, while I've never met most of you. I feel like I know a lot of you from the years as we've moved through the forums together.

Snowcat, our daughter is 7 and wears a size 7. Our son is 6 and wears a size 6.

Doc, funny you should mention that I "appeared to be collected." There were a few people at the scene that asked Monica, "Does he get rattled by anything?" Once I got there, I had "taken control" a little bit. I worked on the electric so I could get power back to the garage. I started peaking through the house house looking to see what was OK, even though there were flames in the other part of the house.

I went down yesterday and pulled a few things from the kitchen. Though they really aren't usuable. Some of them just had special meaning to Monica. I also was able to put a new valve on the water line so I could turn the water back on to the garage. This will allow us to keep water going to the camper and have a hose for clean-up. It will also allow me to feed and water our dogs and rabbits.

Words can't describe how I feel just to say I'm glad nobody got hurt! Let us know what you need.

Oh my God Jim...........Thank goodness all of you and the firefighters are okay. Is there anything you need right now?

Praise God above no one was hurt. As for the losses, it tears me up to see a fire like this. I dont know the feeling of this loss, but I have seen homes go up, many years ago.........My prayers are with you and your family.

Jim, first of all let me say how sorry I am for you and your loss. I see these situations all the time and I marvel at how well people cope with the loss of their house.

I am assuming that your pets made it out safely. That is always the toughest situation to deal with as a firefighter next to the rescue of a human family member. While pets are considered "property" according to the lawyers, the rest of us don't see it that way.

Have they determined the cause of the fire? You mentioned that it started in your office. Which, if any, of your pictures would that be? Lastly, in my district, our department has an emergency fund to cover hotel expenses for for the first several nights for people who have been displaced by fire. That might be the case in your area too and it might be worth checking into.

Good luck and take care. You are indeed fortunate to have so many neighbors who care.
Bonehead

Thanks Jerry and Danny.

I think we are OK for right now. I know we are going to have start looking for a place to stay. Right now we are at the Hampton Inn, if the insurance company is willing to rent a place, I'm going to see if they would be willing to let us spend that money on insulating and heating the garage and let us live there. I would rather do that and be on our property to "protect" it vs. paying rent for something that won't be of any benefit when we are done.

Bonehead (that sounds funny in a serious conversation),

That would be the bottom picture in the first column. I've also attached more. The bottom two in the picture are where our computer was sitting. The other desk is where the kids would use their laptops. Sitting beside of it is our new HP ColorLaser printer. Man, I really liked that printer.

The American Red Cross was here and offered to put us in a hotel. I told them our insurance would cover it, so I wouldn't accept it. I would rather they save their funding for someone that didn't have insurance to cover their immediate needs. I told them I wasn't to good to accept their help and I appreciated it, but I didn't want to accept it since I didn't have to.

Any word on the cause of the fire? Could it have been a Cadet in-wall heater? These things continue to cause problems years after they were recalled.

I also noticed that you have quite a bit of space around your house which I'm sure made attacking the fire easier. Do you have hydrants in your area or did they have to bring water in by tanker? How long did it take to extinguish?
Bone

I'm very glad you and your family are OK. Material things can be replaced for the most part, but a life cannot. Best wishes for you and your family as you rebuild.

Nope, no heaters like that. We are guessing somewhere around the computer (at least mine and the folks that were there) initial go over. I'm a computer geek so we had a bunch of stuff. I tried to spread the load out across multiple outlets/circuits. Everything was also at least double surge protected and the computer and monitor were on a UPS. The studs in the area are burnt more than they are anywhere else, as you know that means they burnt the longest. I took a picture of the breaker box, that is where the breakers are kicked as well. Along with one in the kitchen?

As far as hydrants, nope. We have county water, but no hydrants. They can fill those trucks fast though. I guess they had asked about the pool and Monica told them to stick a hose in it and suck it dry. That is 15000 gallons. They probably could've suck it dry in 3 minutes flat, but they didn't.

The first calls came in around 2:30 PM. They had most of the heavy flames out by 4:00, but they continued fighting flare ups until around 6. I believe they left around 7:00 - 7:30 after picking up and helping us look for items.

Wow what a nightmare! I'm sure glad everyone is OK!

Let us know if you need any help.

Thanks everyone. Doc just sent me a PM and you guys all have me crying again. We really do appreciate it. I didn't post asking for help, just wanted to let you guys know why I probably wouldn't be checking in here or NTT as much for awhile.

Sizes

Keagan, he is 6 he wears size 6 and size 2 shoes.

Alexandrea is 7 and she wears size 7 and size 2 shoes.

Monica is a 10 and wears a 10 shoe.

I wear 36/30 jeans and 38/30 in Khaki/Docker type pants (that is what I wear to work) and an extra large in shirts and size 10 shoes.

As far as bank account goes. Co-workers have work have started a fund at the Grange Employee's Credit Union. Their info can be found here: http://www.GMECU.com. I would assume it is under my name Jim Stewart. My co-workers had the fund established before I had even made it home, what great friends we have there.

Mom is also working with a local bank to get a fund established, but will know more tomorrow. I'll post it when I find.

As for a physical address, I think Mom and Dad's house would probably be best as I would be afraid to send stuff to our address.

So I would send it to:

Again thanks everyone.

Thanks Jim.
Like I said in the PM I had requests for the info. I'm glad you didn't mind posting it.
How about PM'ing me your mail address so we can UPS or mail something to you.

I'm glad you listed the bank account. Some mentioned a combined FF donation but then paypal gets a chunk. I'd prefer all the funds go directly to you, and thanks to those who asked me about it.

If anyone else wants to mail something to Jim (jwstewar) PM me since he will not be online near as much for awhile.

Best wishes Jim. We'll help as best we can to get you and your family back in the saddle again.

Jim,
Another thought on your address. We could make a .jpg file with your mailing address. We could remove it later .... search engines do not read .jpg's so you shouldn't get spammed if I post it that way. Let me know if that's okay by you.

Jim, sorry to hear it. Any clue what caused the fire? Be thankful you were able to save some of your things, and mostly be thankful that nobody was hurt.

Jim,
I sent you a PM. When you get it, please call me. The kids need clothes now and I want to help.

Thinking of you, is there anything I can do to help?

Jerry, I'll give you a call tomorrow and see if we can set something up for Tuesday or Wednesday (or whenever you can). I'm supposed to me the adjuster and the investigator tomorrow. I've also got an appointed to meet someone else for a donation. We are also going to "move" from the hotel room to Mom & Dad's house.

Bob, looks like it started around the computer, but nothing definate yet. My priorities were, were the 4 of us OK, yep. No firefighters got hurt while battling the blaze, and lastly could we get the pictures. With all of those accomplished we are good. Everything else is gravey.

Ice, right now we are OK. Once we find a house/apartment to rent it may be another story as it'll be we don't have.....

Thanks again everyone for your generosity, thoughts, and prayers.

Ok Jim, let me know when one of you can come up. We'll go shopping for the family

Jim,
Unknown to me, Phyl has been burning up eBay all day. By the end of this coming week, there should be 8-10 outfits for Keagan coming and close to that for Alexandrea. She said she'll work on you two tomorrow.

Sorry to hear about this . Wish I lived a little closer ,I am pretty handy with a hammer .

Jim,

I am so sorry to hear about your loss.
Your kids are a bit older/bigger than mine but let me see what I can do.

Brian

Had limited phone contact with Jim today. He was in the process of plumbing in and wiring for hot water in the garage, so at least they can clean up while at the homestead. He already had a sink and water heater that had not been installed just yet. He'd already met with the Fire Marshal and was meeting the insurance guy next I think. He is in good spirits considering the circumstances. He and his family are coming into town Weds, so I'll meet up with them then.