A little over a month ago, our life got little more crazy than normal. I say that, because we seem to enjoy the craziness of life, but this was a little more than we bargained for. I can't complain though, God really watched over all of us and blessed us.
On September 28, Larry and I got home from a Ronald McDonald House event around 11pm. We watch an episode of Storage Wars Texas and were just about to turn the lights off and go to bed, when I heard our neighbors fire alarm going off.
Quick note...We have lived in a two story townhouse duplex for the past 3 plus years, so we share a wall, that can be very thin is certain areas of the house, such as the stairs.
So, I heard the neighbors fire alarm. I looked at Larry and said, "that went off the other day, but for only 30 seconds before it turned off." Then, all of a sudden, you could hear 2 alarms going off, because the were not in sync with each other. I pretty much pushed Larry out of bed and told him something is not right and he needed to go check on it. I had this gut feeling.
Larry got up, I am honestly not sure what he did, but I opened my closet door to get my shoes. I knew something was not right. When I opened my closet door, I could smell smoke. I grab my flip flops, a bra out of the dirty clothes, because it was right there. I thought for a brief second about clothes. I was standing in my closet of goodness sake, but I could not figure out what to grab to put on. I had on my pjs; luckily I sleep in pants and a tank top, but keep the top the the pj pants beside the bed. I grabbed my purse and then our doorbell went nuts.
Larry yelled at me to grab the kids. I ran into Natalie's room first, flipped on her light and grabbed her out of bed with her blanket around her. I did not even grab shoes for her, because her closet was on the opposite side of the room.
I then ran into Carter's room screaming his full name. Oh yes, I used the full name! Because of the way the lights are with his fan, I could not turn the lights on, but he uses he closet as a night light so I flew the door open and grabbed flip flops. I yelled him to wake up; poor thing was in a dead sleep. Once he came to a bit, I told him calmly there was a fire next door. We were going to be okay, but we needed to get out of our house and to grab his blanket, because it was cold outside. He later got a little mad at me for not grabbing his puppy (stuffed of course) that he has had since birth. Seriously, I thought I was doing good getting a blanket. I am proud to say, puppy is just fine and back in the arms of his loving owner.
We got outside and I saw our neighbors kids across the street. I walked over to them and had them sit down beside me to comfort them. Our neighbor had just moved in about a month ago, she has 3 kids, a 16 year old, a 14 year old and a 10 year old. The 14 year old was at a friend's house.
It was not until I crossed the front yard, I saw the fire. Our townhouses are set up the exact same, but flipped. The fire was in the living room and was quit large by now. You could also hear sirens in the back ground heading our way.
Larry must have run back inside our house to get our fire extinguisher. He went in the neighbors house and almost got the fire out until the fire extinguisher died. He then, went into our house and backed my car out of the garage, which was nice, because I put all the kids in it to keep warm.
I called my mom at midnight to come get my kids. My first words were, "Mom, everything is okay and everyone is fine, but there is a fire in our neighbors townhouse and I am not sure how long this is going to take, so can you come pick my kids up?"
I started off that way, so she would not immediately freak. I figured she already was, because it is midnight and my number came up on caller id. I knew she thought something was wrong with Natalie probably.
We had 7 fire trucks, an ambulance, a few fire related cars, fire investigator, Red Cross, just to name a few. There were neighbors out; lets just say it was quit a show.
The firemen did an amazing job and got the fire out and got the smoke out of our side. We were able to go back in and get a few things for the night, but our townhouse smells terrible. Natalie's room happens to be the worst and was farthest from the fire. I think because smoke rises and there is pass way from one side to ours, right in front of Natalie's room.
My neighbor's side was totaled. The entire townhouse is black from the smoke. I have never seen anything like it before, it is crazy. We had horrible smoke damage as well, but not quite that bad.
I can not complain, we have renter's insurance. Larry owns the townhouse with 2 other guys and they had great insurance as well.
One thing that shows God was watching over all of us...Our neighbor had a sign right outside the room where the fire started, that said "God's Rules for Our Family." Everything on the sign burnt expect for the, "Trust God." Does that not give you chills?
We did have to move out and we will not be moving back in. We have to be over cautious, because of Natalie. We had bought a house a month before all of this, which we are going to redo a little and move in. The house, however, is not ready yet, but we have a place to go for a while until it is ready for us to move in.
Servpro (the do fire and water damage clean up) also came in and boxed up my entire house. They were amazing!
Now, I have to say, we do have some comical moments here lately. One, we had to borrow luggage from my mom to go out of town, because all of ours is getting cleaned. Larry also asked me where his tooth brush charger was. I looked at him and said I do not know, but at least we have the same tooth brush, so you can borrow my charger. That is a little of how our life is at the moment.
We have lived in worst situations and been through worse, so I am just happy everyone is okay. Now, I will say, we had to move suddenly. I was expecting a few more months with my alley neighbors. Our kids played together daily and we hung out in the alley at night. I have been sad about that, but luckily our boys still go to school together.
Our neighbors and ourselves bakes a few goodies a week or so after the fire and took them to the Fire Station to thank the fireman for all the did and do on a daily basis. They were amazing and showed the kids around the station. As a mom, I was totally stressed the entire time. I mean 6 to 7 kids running around a fire station with alarms and buttons everywhere...I do not think I need to say more.
My kids have done amazing since the fire for the most part. They were both pretty freaked out that night; totally understandable though. Natalie however, is getting better, but was totally freaked out by smoke detectors for a while. She flipped out the night after the fire, because my mom's smoke detector was blinking (which is normal). She has finally calmed down, but still walks in a place and looks for the smoke detectors in the room. So, if you plan on having Natalie come over, you better by fire safety ready or she will point it out!
I can honestly say, for now on, Larry and I will have at least 4 to 5 fire extinguishers in our house. We already had smoke detectors in every room and carbon monoxide detectors as well, which will continue. I ask all of you to check your smoke detectors and make sure you have at least one fire extinguisher if not more than one. I truly believe they saved our life! Be smart, especially with Christmas around the corner.
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| The living room where the fire started |
I can not complain, we have renter's insurance. Larry owns the townhouse with 2 other guys and they had great insurance as well.
One thing that shows God was watching over all of us...Our neighbor had a sign right outside the room where the fire started, that said "God's Rules for Our Family." Everything on the sign burnt expect for the, "Trust God." Does that not give you chills?
We did have to move out and we will not be moving back in. We have to be over cautious, because of Natalie. We had bought a house a month before all of this, which we are going to redo a little and move in. The house, however, is not ready yet, but we have a place to go for a while until it is ready for us to move in.
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| Hole outside Natalie's room Smoke was coming in this area bad, so the fireman busted up a hole to check it |
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| See the black around the bathmat, that is from smoke |
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| Inside the drawer Crazy how this stuff gets everywhere |
Servpro (the do fire and water damage clean up) also came in and boxed up my entire house. They were amazing!
Now, I have to say, we do have some comical moments here lately. One, we had to borrow luggage from my mom to go out of town, because all of ours is getting cleaned. Larry also asked me where his tooth brush charger was. I looked at him and said I do not know, but at least we have the same tooth brush, so you can borrow my charger. That is a little of how our life is at the moment.
We have lived in worst situations and been through worse, so I am just happy everyone is okay. Now, I will say, we had to move suddenly. I was expecting a few more months with my alley neighbors. Our kids played together daily and we hung out in the alley at night. I have been sad about that, but luckily our boys still go to school together.
Our neighbors and ourselves bakes a few goodies a week or so after the fire and took them to the Fire Station to thank the fireman for all the did and do on a daily basis. They were amazing and showed the kids around the station. As a mom, I was totally stressed the entire time. I mean 6 to 7 kids running around a fire station with alarms and buttons everywhere...I do not think I need to say more.
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| Sy Thoennes and Dean Watkins cover their ears as they test the fire system for us |
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| Avery Watkins and Natalie |
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| Kids loving the Fire Truck |
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| Fireman's TV Room |
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| Natalie and I |
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| All the Kids thanking the Fireman We love what you all do everyday and night...Thank you! |
I can honestly say, for now on, Larry and I will have at least 4 to 5 fire extinguishers in our house. We already had smoke detectors in every room and carbon monoxide detectors as well, which will continue. I ask all of you to check your smoke detectors and make sure you have at least one fire extinguisher if not more than one. I truly believe they saved our life! Be smart, especially with Christmas around the corner.
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