Quote:
Originally Posted by Dianita
I left for work on a sunny April morning only to receive a call around 2.30PM from a neighbor that the flames were coming out of the living room window and the firefighters were on the way.
The shock of seeing the destruction that fire can bring in such a short time took a few days to wear off for me. My emotions seesawed between relief that my son and I had survived (the firefighters told me we wouldn't have if the fire had happened at 2.30AM instead of PM) and anger and frustration.
I hope that your brother's burns are not severe and that somehow your whole family will somehow find some measure of joy on Christmas Day that everyone survived and that 2008 will be a better year for everyone.
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You can really relate to this. Just got off the phone with him. They were put up in a Hotel by the Red Cross, and of course friends out there are trying to help. He lost everything except for a fire safety box with passports and important documents. That's something I keep wanting to get and never got around to it. I am concerned for his daughter though. She was in the living room with a friend (both 12 years) when the fire started. They were frozen on the spot screaming. He was in the shower at the time and couldn't understand why they were screaming. His wife was in the yard talking to a friend and his son was at a neighbour's house. He ran out the shower with a towel and couldn't believe his eyes. Then he hurried the girls out, but attempted to open a side door near the tree to see if he could shove the whole thing out. The door couldn't open, and the tree exploded at that point. This is when his back was burned. He realised that once his hair started he had to drop and roll and then get to hell out. Meanwhile, his daughter and wife are outside, and the daughter is screaming for her daddy to PLEASE get out
My goodness. The horror this child must have felt. He will get counselling for the entire family, but I told him pay extra attention to her. She never wants another tree again. Poor child.
My mum is in a state though she is thankful that they are alive. Still, she is watching her daughter dying and can't believe all the trials and tribulations she has had to face since daddy died. It's really getting to be too much!
Thank you all for your concern and thoughts. I'll try my best to be thankful and do whatever I can for my brother and his family. Oh, I forgot to mention the saddest part. Their dog got confused with the fire and started running around somewhere in the back, so they were trying to call him. Poor thing thought THEY were inside and he went in to get them. He died.