Help Bill and Debbie Recover from House Fire

Hello everyone - my name is Erin, and I am the oldest daughter of Bill and Debbie. Unfortunately, my parents experienced a house fire yesterday when their dryer caught fire. I am currently fundraising some "upfront costs" for them to get some stability while we begin the long process of rebuilding.

What Happened:

The fire began in the dryer in the laundry room. My father heard the smoke alarm going off and rushed downstairs to see what was wrong. He entered the laundry room to see the dryer shooting fire out. Within a matter of seconds, the fire was rushing up the inner wall and overtaking anything in its reach.

pictured: the powder room into the laundry room aftermath.

My mother has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and is permanently disabled and bed bound. Her hospital bed is in the family room, which shares a wall with the laundry room and connected powder room. She can't physically evacuate herself because she can't walk.

My youngest sister Haley was in the house as well. She came downstairs when she heard the smoke alarm because it hadn't stopped going off. There was thick smoke filling the first floor. She tried to rush down to my mom as she called 911, but the dispatcher told her to leave the house.

pictured: ceiling damage from smoke and fire just outside the powder room door in the room where my mom stays

My father stayed inside for as long as he could before he had to go outside and show the firefighters how to get around rescue my mom from the fire. The back sliding glass door was shattered in order to drag her hospital bed across the room and then get her from the bed and out of the house.

pictured: the sliding glass door was shattered in order to rescue my mother from her hospital bed.

Thank God - everyone is alive and no one was burned. Even the cat, Girlfriend, was found once the house was cleared. However, both of my parents are suffering from smoke inhalation and are in the hospital, likely for the next few days at least.

Girlfriend was taken to the emergency vet, her oxygen was checked, she was given a bath and was sent to stay with me (and then will move to my brother). My sister is currently with her best friend while my parents are in the hospital.

pictured: the aftermath of the laundry room.

The need:

I am currently beginning the process of coordinating with the insurance in order to get the ball rolling. However, there are a lot of steps to deal with and a lot of unique hurdles.

Currently, funds are set for "upfront costs" like emergency vet bills, clothing, food, and hotel costs. The insurance should cover many items on the back end, but I do not want my parents to feel the strain of this when they likely will not be able to return to the house for months, especially at the holiday season.

Clothing is an immediate need as my father lost most of his clothes to the fire. The electric and water are off in the house, and all food items (refrigerated/frozen and anything exposed to smoke) must be documented and thrown away. There is significant water damage to the family room level, as there is about 6 inches of water sitting in the family room/laundry area, and no way to remove it as we enter the coldest months of the year.

It is highly likely that my mom will need to be transferred to a care home when she is okay to leave the hospital, until the house is fixed and she can return to the house, so it is possible that we may need to increase the ask amount if we run into any issues with insurance on this front. Please note the current amount is an estimate, and may adjust as needed for this reason especially.

The positive - the house hopefully shouldn't be considered a total loss. The fire was relatively contained to the laundry area. Smoke may have damaged the walls in the rest of the house, however, and all of the possessions in the house smell strongly of smoke. Piping, electrical, appliances, walls, possessions, etc will need to be replaced, from fire, water, and/or smoke damage, potentially even throughout other areas of the home. We will get to that bridge when we cross it, however, and I will make any updates as necessary to adjust the funding amount to accommodate as needed.

Ultimately, I am so thankful that my parents and my sister walked away with their lives. With your prayers, and any donations or shares you can spare, I hope to ease some of the stress off of their shoulders in an already stressful situation. Thank you so much for reading - we appreciate and love you all.