Ok, I just got back from Betsy's house - she made me a moderator so
that I can help out with this group - it's going to be at least a
week or so before she is available - but I can hopefully coordinate
back and forth for her.
Their home is a total complete loss. Apparently, a plumber had been
soldering a pipe and using a blow torch - their house is a straw
bale house so blow torches are a no-no. Anyways, some time after
the plumber or handyman had finished his work, the kids were in the
kitchen making lunch and smelled the straw burning and smoldering.
Betsy was in Las Vegas at the time, and when she heard she rushed
back (it's about 100 miles away) with her mom and her sisters as
quick as they could.
Everyone is safe and ok. The kids all got out quick and were able
to save the Christmas tree and the stockings, a few clothes, and
scarce belongings, but for the most part they have lost everything.
They have no pajamas, no warm jackets, no shoes, no toiletries,
nothing. One of the women from church grabbed the two younger kids -
Melanie and Christian - and took them right out of the situation
rather quickly. When we got there about 4:30pm, and the older kids
were all still there and Betsy had just got there not long before we
did. Ali and Cassie are spending the night with a friend from
church, and I helped them make a shopping list for their immediate
toiletry needs. One family offered up their empty home that is for
sale - they have already blown up air mattresses and are stocking it
as fast as they can with supplies, there is even a refrigerator on
the way. Allen has spent most of the evening on the backhoe
crushing down the straw so the firemen can saturate it with the foam
(there are about 4 fire trucks at their house still).
There were a lot of people there helping out - the bishop and his
wife, a few other church members besides us, and they had family
there. Betsy's mom and sisters, Allen's dad, etc. Shortly after we
arrived, Brandon had some trouble breathing (he has a rare heart
condition) and he turned white then blue. The paramedics took good
care of him, and the bishop, my husband, and another elder tended to
his spiritual needs. Within minutes of that prayer, he got all his
color back and was asking for a double cheeseburger! Jonathan (the
boy from Austria) was in shock, so I'm a little worried about him,
but he is staying pretty close to Betsy and trying to help out to
keep himself busy. We tried to pull he and Brandon over to our
house, but they wanted to stay with mom. I spoke to Betsy a few
minutes ago, and the fire department finally told them all to just
go and get some rest. The firemen will be there into most of the
night tearing down the rest of the house and taking care of the
smoldering straw.
Betsy seems to be holding up - but she is not typically a panicky
person. I imagine it might affect her by the end of the day
tomorrow, or maybe not even for a couple of days. It may just be a
bit numb until they get settled in the new location - then it will
probably all hit her.
This is very hard - she has lost all of her beautiful school room,
her materials, her sewing machine (she made gorgeous quilts), all of
their family heirlooms, photos, everything. Tonight, the one friend
from church who has the older girls is sitting down with them and
making a list of sizes for everyone in the family so that we can
send out clothing needs lists. Food is being brought in every night
this week, and we are gathering up homemaking lists as well of
things they will need. I will post it here as soon as we get it put
together.
Please pray for the Stout family - they need all the spiritual
uplifting they can get!
Dianne McLean
Bullhead City
|
• Tue 11 Dec 2007 - <i>Untitled Comment</i>
MJ, I posted this from another list. I will post updates as I recieve them. I use Betsy's notebooking pages and have really learn to appreciate her. This has got to be so hard.
Rosie
Edited by GrandmaRosie on Tue 11 Dec 2007 at 12:31 AM