'Seeing everything you lost'

Work continues

Jay and Ric showed up to help Stephen clear away debris after the fire. Besides family, Stephen and Susan have truly been blessed with the help of good friends and neighbors (like Jack and his family) during this time. Jack's girls even went out and bought Trevor and Emily new bikes because their bikes were destroyed in the fire. Every time I go by to drop off something or help in some way, Jack has been there helping. We can all only hope in our times of need to have friends and neighbors like those helping Stephen and Susan.

Dumpster delivery

A full Dumpster gets taken away and another gets delivered during cleanup after the fire at Stephen and Susan's. More to come later in the weekend.

Here's a little Earth, Wind and FIRE to get you shaking your thing this weekend.

What a difference a few hands can make....

The picture at top is what the former enclosed garage and carport that burnt looks like after a day and a half of cleanup by Stephen, Susan, family, friends and neighbors. The small photo at right is what it looked like the day after the fire. Next up is working on clearing the carpets, etc. out of the part of the house that was damaged in the fire. The garage itself took two full large Dumpsters and the start of a third. Movies and more photos of the cleanup to come over the weekend.

The cleanup is beginning

In a few hours I'm headed to my brother's to help him clear some of the debris left from the fire, including items like the picture at right. It is a picture of what used to be a play castle for the kids. It's mostly a melted mess now. It was not in the fire but the intense heat melted 75 percent of the castle's walls. I've updated the earlier video post about the fire with a slideshow of photos of the damage. See that post and the slideshow here. I'll post pictures of the ongoing cleanup later.

Surveying the damage

This video is long -- about 8 minutes -- but for friends and family who don't live in the area, it's an opportunity for them to see the damage done by the fire at the home of one of my brothers and his family. [Original post about the fire.] Stephen, Susan, the kids and dogs all escaped unharmed and for that I am thankful. I was standing with Stephen close to midnight after everyone left Monday night -- the night of the fire -- and he just looked at the debris and said, "Where do I even start? Where do I start." It must be such an overwhelming feeling. It's one of those things that you never think will happen to you or your family.

UPDATE: 04.06.07 I have added a slideshow of photos to go with the video.

Structures can be repaired and rebuilt ...

A fire destroyed a detached garage at the house of one of my brothers' Monday night. It also damaged part of the house, a car and many other things. My brother, his wife, their two kids and two dogs all escaped unhurt -- and that's what matters. They were just sitting down for dinner when it happened. We rushed over so fast I forgot my camera. This is from my cellphone. At top is a short video of my brother walking through what was a garage. The photo at right is of Stephen with a flashlight and hose spraying a hot spot left by the firefighters as two of his neighbors watch. His neighbors were a big help, including getting plywood to board up some of the damaged areas. In the foreground is the burnt out back of their Suburban. The heat and flames torched it. But again, they all escaped unharmed.