Fire Victims on the path to recovery Part 3

Justin salvaging some things from their apartment (photo Caree Gordon)

In the past 2 articles, Justin and Caree Gordon have taken you into their lives that was turned upside down by the December 12 fire that took their home. They have shared the caring of others, and their faith in God and their neighbor.

I asked them what they would tell others about their experience and what a person could do to prepare and minimize the impact a fire would have on your life.

Justin said, “As far as a message to people out there; you know when something like this happens to another individual, you wanna know how you can help. Just determine what your willing to do, get in touch with those places like Love Inc., the Red Cross, find out what needs to happen. Just ask yourself what your willing to do, do ask the question ‘What’s already been done?’. Just because stuff has been done doesn’t mean there’s still not other things. Not one person can do everything, but every person could do one thing.”

“Insure yourself against it [disaster]. We learned our lesson, you gotta have renters insurance. You gotta cover yourself with that. Make sure all your documents are in a fire proof safe, even the stuff you think is safe in a file cabinet. Cause if the fire don’t get to it, the water from the fire hoses will. Make sure you get a water proof and fire proof safe and just make sure you protect that stuff.” Justin was very specific about this, having just experienced it for themselves.

The steps and deck area that opened up to Justin and Caree Gordon's apartment. (photo Caree Gordon)

“Just know how to network, have a nice support group. Regardless of what you feel about the church, at least have family or friends that are in the church, cause the church can come through in situations like this. If your a member or not they are here to help. They are here to do that witness and demonstrate Christs love for a person. It’s a good witnessing opportunity.” Justin said of those around them that have come to their aid.

Caree added, “Life is too short to being going through being ticked off and being mad at people for a stupid cruddy reason. Cause you never know when your going to need those people or when they are going to need you.”

Like I said elsewhere...these guys came back with us several days later and risked their necks to climb upstairs and look for our fireproof box. When they were sure it was safe...and when they realized they needed our guidance to find it...they let us go up too. They dug out the box, carried it down, and used their tools to crack it open. They shared a few seconds of victory with us when we all saw that the contents were saved. Great job, guys! - Caree Gordon

They were able to salvage a few things from the fire. Caree said, “The other thing is, that just because you have this huge fire and everything was a loss, it’s worth going back and taking a look to see if there’s something that can be salvaged.  We were very surprised, we were actually able to get a couple of plastic totes out of a closet where the fire had just kinda burned around. It had some pictures and some baby toys of his (speaking of Justin). If we had just said woe is me, there’s no point in going back, we would have missed that stuff. We would have never gone up there, thinking it wasn’t safe, if they had not said, ‘Come up here, help us look for that box.’ Then Justin went back the next day and talked to the fire chief and said, ‘Can I get up there and look for some other things? Am I gonna get in trouble? Should you come with me?’, and the fire chief basically said, ‘It’s enter at your own risk, just be careful. I’m not against it’. He didn’t say ‘Oh no, it’s not safe, your gonna fall through the floor.’ ”

The Gordon’s also stated that their phones became a lifeline for communication. Beyond making phone calls, their smart phones allowed them to bank, maintain contact with other friends over social media, and find resources on the internet.

I want to thank Justin and Caree for taking the time to talk with me the other day. I know that their life has been turned upside down by all that has happened. Also, thank you to everyone that has stepped up and helped all those that suffered loss from the fire. If I missed giving credit to anyone that has helped, it was certainly not on purpose.