The Smith Family Story

This story is written by our neighbors, Jeff & Jillian Smith, whose home burned down in 2009. I was there with them amongst others watching everything go up in flames. It was traumatic and sad. I'm so glad they have progressed as much as they have in one year. They are a generous and deserving bunch!

Jillian's Story
It was December 5, 2009 and I had been grocery shopping until about 2:00 that afternoon while Jeff spent the day with the kids. We were watching the Washington v. Cal football game so I bought snack foods to make; stuffed mushrooms, spinach dip and Velveeta & salsa dip. I got all the groceries put away and fried some bacon to put in the dip. As usual there was a bit of smoke filling the kitchen from the bacon. I was using the vent fan, but in never really helped too much. I made the comment to Jeff that the smoke detector was not going off even though there was smoke in the room. Jeff was watching the game on our 1 week old 50-inch plasma TV that we mounted on the wall above our 1 week old electric fireplace. The kids had their blankets and toys laid out on the floor in the living room. The kids loved the fireplace, especially Kailey so they were playing in the living room. Before getting the fireplace, the kids would usually be in our bedroom watching a movie and playing in there. We thank God every day that he was watching over us and the kids to have them in the living room that day since the fire started on the end of the house where our bedroom was.

Of course, Jeff had the surround sound on and it was fairly loud. I prepared the stuffed mushrooms and put them in the oven. About five minutes before they were done I said to Jeff “do you hear that noise” he said “what noise?” We listened with the volume lower, but he still didn’t hear it. I figured it was just that background noise you hear in the surround sound when football is on.

The timer for the mushrooms went off and I got up to get them. As soon as I opened the oven door the smoke detector started going off. There wasn’t any smoke coming from the oven. Many times over the years the smoke detector would go off when I was using the oven, but there was never any smoke. We always just fanned in front of the smoke detector and it would stop. So that is what I was going to do. I grabbed a pot holder to fan the smoke detector as I had done so many times before, but as I turned to look I saw black smoke coming from the ceiling right above it.

The following events happened so fast, but as I remember everything it plays in my mind so slowly.

I said to Jeff, there is something wrong, get the kids out. “Just get out, I yelled!” I slipped on some crappy shoes and grabbed my purse, because you know a woman doesn’t go anywhere without her purse, and told the girls to get outside. I don’t even recall grabbing my purse, but later I realized I had it on my arm. As I was rushing out the front door I said to Jeff again, “get out!” Kailey was crying down the front steps “what about ‘B’ and Pounce and Ruffie?” I don’t recall any noise from Rachel. I remember seeing Simba in front of me on the front walkway. As I stepped out on the front porch I felt what I thought was snow, but it was actually ash. At that moment I was seeing flames and smoke engulfing our home and our cars. Our girls were so scared, but great because they went and stood next to the play set. Just a couple months earlier we had a conversation about fire safety. We told them that they should stand by the play set if there was a fire, and they did exactly that. I think I

was standing next to the girls when Jeff had Matthew under his arm at his side and he was running out with flames following him. At the moment it seemed to take him forever to come out. He was crying that the dogs are gone. He said “I tried, I tried, but JJ wouldn’t come out and I couldn’t find Simba.” I said “Simba is outside” and he said “No Jill they are gone.”

We got the kids, without any shoes, and ran over to Mike and Shirley’s house. You hear of people saying they escaped with just the clothes on their back and other than my purse and Jeff and I having crappy shoes on that is exactly what our situation was. We heard an explosion, it was the full tank of gas I had just put in the car earlier that day. A moment later we heard another huge explosion and saw a lot of black smoke. There went the truck fuel. Shirley was just coming out her door and met us. Just moments before she got a call from Bob Shelton, a neighbor, telling her she should call 911 because he could see that our house was on fire. I was crying hysterically, but I had no tears. I felt like I was so out of breath. Jeff just kept saying “It’s gone, it’s all gone even the dogs.” Everybody seemed to be in shock, not sure what to do. Megan comforted the girls and Shirley took Matthew. By this time the kids were very scared and the girls were crying. Kailey just kept asking about her stuff.

Jeff and I went outside to look at what was so unbelievable. I found out later that Kailey and Rachel watched the fire a little from a window at Mike and Shirley’s house. By this time there was a Cashmere Valley Record reporter taking pictures and a police car on the road, but no fire trucks. Time seemed to stand still as we watched everything, but ourselves, go up in flames. Jeff and I embraced and sobbed for a couple minutes just whispering how unbelievable this is. We said to each other “thank God we all got out safe.”

We hear a voice say, “Is there anything you need, some coats or something?” We said no, but thank you. “I am so sorry for your loss.” He said, and walked away as quietly as he approached. Later we found out he was the reporter from the Cashmere Valley Record. I remember Erik Shelton on his cell talking about the fire to a 911 operator and using some profanity to express how upset he was that it was taking so long for the fire trucks to show up. It took more than 20 minutes from the first 911 call for the first fire truck to be on the scene.

I remember standing there, numb and seeing but not knowing really what was happening. It was snowing now and both Jeff and I were in jeans and a t-shirt, but we weren’t cold. Renyel Shelton come and gave me a hug and it dawned on me all the stuff of theirs that was in the house from me babysitting Alan. I apologized and she said, “Don’t even think about that.” Bob and Paula Shelton came over to us and hugged us. Bob offered for us to stay in their house while they were gone for the winter. Grandma Betty & Papa Don and Donetta were there and so were Rob & Dani. Corrine, Kailey’s bus driver, hugged us and just wanted to make sure we were all ok.

Dani asked if I needed anything and I started to say no, then I thought maybe I should call my parents, but I didn’t want to leave. I was somewhat mesmerized by what I was seeing. It killed me to watch the flames, but I didn’t want to miss a second of it. Dani let me use her phone. I called my mom first, not knowing yet what I was going to say and how to say it. “Hi mom, it’s me.” She asked me what’s going on? “Our house is on fire” I said. Slightly shocked she said “What!” I burst into tears and said, “I am standing here watching our house burn down.” I could hear Kerby talking to her in the background as he usually does when I am talking to her and suddenly she shouted “Shut up Kerby, their house is on fire!” I honestly don’t remember the rest of the conversation, just what can we do and I love you. She made sure we were all okay and said she would be coming to help as soon as she could. Now that I did it once, I had to do it again and call my dad. It was amazing that I remembered his phone number because I never dialed his number it has always been built into the memory of the phone. Same basic situation, share the news, disbelief, and what can I do and I love you. When I gave the phone back to Dani she again asked if there is anything we need. I thought and realized I have no diapers for Matthew. Later in the night Rob and Dani showed up with a package of diapers and wipes. Such a basic thing, but it meant so much to me that they did that.

The fire trucks had been there through my conversations. By this time there wasn’t anything to save and we really just wanted them to leave it so it would just burn the whole thing, but they are not allowed to do that. The fire chief wanted to talk to us. We went to his truck. Once I was in the warmth of the truck, I finally realized how cold I was. I was shaking not only because I was cold, but from the adrenaline also. We talked with the fire chief for about 15 minutes going through what happened and what we think might have started the fire. As we got out of the truck, we saw Jim and Gerry Dolman. They asked what happened and said they were so sorry.

I wanted to look for Simba at this time so I was walking around calling for him. Jeff just kept saying he is gone, I know he is gone. I didn’t get too far away from the house, I hoped that once all the commotion had settled down he would come back. Shirley and Megan went out at the end of the orchard calling for him. They walked all over down by the creek and by the Dolman’s house. It ended up that in February Mike was walking around in the orchard and by the creek and he found Simba’s remains, he had ran away from the fire right to the cougar that has stalked our area for a long time. We were all very lucky that the cougar did not attack one of us, but we know how Simba died and more than likely it was busy with him instead of attacking one of us. I hate the thought of how he died, but I am at peace knowing that he didn’t have to be out in the bitter freezing cold weather that came the week following the fire.

As I remember all the sounds that night it dawns on me that the sound I asked Jeff about just moments before the smoke detector went off was the same sound I was hearing when we were watching the house burn. The crackling sound was very clear to me; it was the

lumber in the house on fire. We watched the fire fighters use water on what was left of the house. The sound of them breaking glass was weird to hear, but they were trying to get water on the kid’s bedrooms, so they broke the windows.

By this time the guys realized that because our power was cut it was causing the well to not work thus causing the water at Mike and Shirley’s house to not work. I called Ed Mott to see if Jeff could use the excavator of Jim’s. This was another phone conversation that I was not sure what to say. To this day I am still not sure of the right words to say in this situation. I was in the kitchen at Mike and Shirley’s house when Ed and Sherry and the kids came into the house. We hugged, we cried then Ed says “I talked to my dad and the rental is empty and they want you to have it as long as you need it.” I was so overcome with emotion. If we moved into the rental Kailey would still be on the same bus and we would just be up the road from HOME. Ed went to help Jeff with the power to the well. Because of Ed and Sherry we were moving into the rental by the next day and they even had it furnished with beds for the kids, food and many essentials.

Megan and Shirley got the kids ready for bed. Megan had called Branden at work and he came home to help. They went to town to get some clothes, socks, undies, toothbrushes, shoes for the kids and some essentials for all of us. I was on the phone with Bruce from State Farm to inform him and he helped me to know what to do. He even drove from East Wenatchee in the snow to give us a notebook and a check so we would feel like we could buy some much needed stuff. Marla Hills even came up to give us a hug and offer help. Tyler Anderson, a classmate from school, showed up, a shocking but good surprise.

Later in the night Beau & Kara Strutzel, Jason & Cally Steele, Josh & Andrea Leavitt and Andrea’s brother come up and stayed for a bit. We were all in Mike’s shop talking, the guys had been drinking, and we walked over the house. Mike, Jeff and Ed had finished with the power to the well and threw a piece of sheet metal over the hole so nobody would fall in, or so they thought. As we were all walking along, Jeff was telling the guys about the hole and pointed out the excavator right next to the hole. Jason walked right over the sheet metal and into the hole. It was the funniest thing to happen the whole night. We hung out for quite a while talking and shaking our heads.

I think it was about 1:30 am when I finally got settled over at Mike & Shirley’s house. I lay down and was so cold I couldn’t get to sleep so I took a shower. My mind was spinning and I don’t know what happened, but suddenly I was sobbing. I must have sobbed for about 15 minutes. Over the next few months, it seemed that when I was taking a shower was the only time my mind would not be busy with other things or people and I had a few moments of sadness at those times. The rest of the time I have been so busy with kids, and arrangements I just didn’t have time to cry.

Now it was December 6, 2009. This day and the days that follow are not near as vivid in my mind as the day before. Thanks to Chuck and Donetta we had a comfortable car to drive,

they loaned us their Honda Pilot! It was nice because we could all fit and we didn’t have to worry about breaking down. I know we went to Walmart at least 4 times because every time we would leave we would think of something else we needed. Ed and Sherry told us that the rental was ready when we were. I cannot tell you what time we finally got there, but it was in the afternoon. We must have received 100 or more calls that day. Word had spread very fast and our wonderful community was working to help us and we didn’t even know how much yet. John Becker gave us an envelope with more than $300 in it. The night of the fire there was a dinner at the Mission Creek Community Club. They passed a hat and the people attending the dinner donated their money to us. We had cash, gift cards, clothing, food, furniture, home décor and gift donations for a few weeks. People were dropping donations at Mike and Shirley’s, Valley Tractor and the rental. Jason Steele was great and would bring truckloads to us after work each day. My mom and Aunt Teresa came to help and they were exactly that. I believe I would still be going through everything without their help. We appreciate absolutely everything that was donated, but there was so much and it was just so overwhelming and very emotional.

I remember talking to Barb Morris and telling her that by Monday I realized I had not combed my hair since the day of the fire. She was so taken by my words, she told the story to a few people. She says we take so much for granted, you have just been through such an ordeal and nobody even thought to buy a brush, frankly I didn’t even think of it until Monday myself. There were so many things to think of. Jeff had to replace everything in his wallet, because he didn’t have it on him at the time. We had our birth certificates replaced. Absolutely everything needed replacing and the funny thing is absolutely everything costs money. Every person we talked to about our situation just said, well you have insurance don’t you, and so they assume it will be taken care of. Well of course we have insurance, but what nobody realizes and even at this time we didn’t either, is there is a cap to how much you get. You have to prove everything and still you are not guaranteed your coverage amount because everything is depreciated by how many years you owned it. My most shocking example of this on our inventory list that we had to gave to State Farm is our dog JJ. She was our property and we know that she was in the house at the time of the fire. We even found her remains in what would have been the living room, so we were able to bury her. We got JJ in 1998, the same year she was born and we paid $200 for her. It would cost $324 to replace her today. Since she was 11 ½ years old she was depreciated by 80% so they gave us $64.80 toward our settlement for her. Every item on our list was depreciated in that way. There is a fine line of not enough insurance and too much. If you have $100,000 of insurance coverage you have to prove that you had at least double that unless everything you have is brand new or a collector item because they will depreciate everything and you will not get your coverage amount unless you can prove it. They don’t question what is on your list unless you completely blow past what your coverage amount is. They consider anything over about 2 ½ times your coverage amount to be questionable. When they suggest taking a video of your belongings, this is not really to prove what you

had it is more to help you remember what you had so your inventory list is complete. Don’t forget if you do this to keep it off site possibly in a safe deposit box.

One year has passed and here we are in a beautiful new home surrounded by nothing familiar to us other than us. We are so very thankful for absolutely everything that was donated to us, but it is difficult to have nothing familiar surrounding you. We are building new memories and making the new stuff ours, but it is weird to not have all the irreplaceable items that were ours from 16 years together including 11 years of marriage and three children. Our new house is wonderful and we are proud of it, but with it we endure more financial strain than if we still had the other house. Many people believe that insurance just replaces your home in a situation like this, but our other home was so much older and not worth near what the new house is worth. We accept the responsibility and roll with the punches and have faith that everything is going to be okay. We made it through one of the worst things that can happen and we built a house while living in a 27 foot fifth wheel and our family is still strong. We give thanks to all of you who blessed us with gifts and donations, without all the love and support we are not sure where we would be today. We owe Mike and Shirley so much because without them we would not have a beautiful new house. Please know that our door is always open and we welcome visitors anytime. We will always miss all our irreplaceable items and our dogs and the feeling of security. The kids are doing much better now, but they have had some tough times and I am sure will continue for a while. Time is healing our hearts, but we will never forget what happened on December 5, 2009.