Dear Friends, I write to update and inform. Many of you have heard and subsequently reached out with kind, generous, helping hands as well as loving thoughts and prayers and for those that were not aware I count you as friends and know you would want to be informed so I have included a very large distribution list.
On Monday, the 20th a little after 9:00AM our darling, very precocious little daughter Phoebe was in her room playing while her mother was getting her day started. Unbeknownst to Kimmy, Phoebe was not playing with dolls or her crayons rather, she was playing with matches and she set her mattress on fire. Unfortunately and fortunately, Phoebe merely wandered out in the hall without informing mommy what she had done so Kimmy's first revelation came when our smoke detectors, thankfully, did their jobs and started wailing. Kimmy went out mystified as to why the alarms were sounding and when she saw the look on Phoebe's face was immediately concerned that something was wrong. As she made it to P's room, she found the mattress partially aflame. She commanded Phoebe to go next door whereupon she then tried to beat the fire out with a comforter. She very quickly realized that wasn't going to work so she next tried to remove the mattress thinking if she could get it out of the room, throw it down the stairs and then drag it out the front door she could prevent further damage (for those familiar with the layout of our house, this actually makes a little sense since Phoebe's room is immediately in front of the large open area above our foyer). She managed to get it to P's door before realizing that it was just too heavy and by now, too fiercely aflame. She then called 911. Once she informed the authorities she bravely dashed back and retrieved one of our household fire extinguishers and went to work but by now, the room was ablaze and it was hopeless. At this point my sweet, courageous Boo realized she had to get the animals out. She easily found Hampton and Jasper. They were both quite comfortable and content down in the hearth room on the couch and floor respectively. Frankly, they were not very concerned because neither responded to Kimmy's urgent commands to get up and out and she actually had to physically throw Hampton out the back door and drag Jas. She then began to call Skeeter and when he did not immediately show up (and he NEVER ignores her) she frantically ran back upstairs to find him. By now, Phoebe's room is 100% consumed in flames and the fire has worked it's way over to Sami's connected room. The entire upstairs is filled with thick, toxic, "cave dark", black smoke. Skeeter was no where to be found and not responding to her calls and at this stage Kimmy was also concerned that Phoebe might have returned to the house looking for her (the mind does strange things in situations like these, mere minutes have passed at this stage) and she also knows our cat Gracie is somewhere in the house. She began screaming for both Phoebe and Skeeter but now she is unable to breath or see where she is going and is actually beginning to fear she has made a fatal mistake and might not be able to make it out of the house as her lungs are taking in only smoke and she can not see where she is going. Luckily for me, she was able to feel her way downstairs and she escaped out the front door.
Kimmy is still screaming for Phoebe and Skeeter and our very kind neighbor Pam rushes over to assure her that Phoebe is fine and safe in her house next door. Not seeing Skeeter outside, Kimmy wants to go back in the house but Pam will not allow her to go back in. By now the police and fire dept. are arriving so Kimmy calls me to let me know whereupon I race home to try to help. When I arrive on the scene, Kimmy is being assisted by paramedics to an ambulance where she is informed she will have to go to the KU Burn Center for treatment to the burns about her hands, wrists and, oddly enough, her nose as well as smoke inhalation. She did not even realize she had burned herself and in retrospect suspects it happened when she was trying to drag the burning mattress out.
The fire dept. very quickly and quite impressively knocked the fire out and the police did a terrific job of securing our street and ensuring no neighbors or innocent bystanders were able to get close enough to get hurt. They are unable to find Gracie (we later find her safely hidden in the floor joists above the basement ceiling) but they do locate Skeeter who, very sadly, was overwhelmed by the smoke and unable to escape. All of this happened in the span of maybe 15 or 20 minutes. Kimmy and the kids are broken hearted over Skeets but I know he passed trying to protect Kimmy and staying close to her as she battled the disaster.
A few hours later, after the fire fighters have deemed the house safe for re-entry. Our very dear friend in the Leawood Police Dept., Mark Chudick, who heard the call on the radio and immediately rushed to our house (after also calling me to make sure I was aware) actually stayed behind after the other authorities left and made sure that the animals were all attended and even began clean up! Kimmy was released from the hospital early in the afternoon and we were able to get back in to assess the damage.
In a nutshell, the upper west corner of our house is more or less gone. Phoebe's room was completely destroyed and much of Sam's was either badly burned or soaked by the water from the fire truck. Actually, there is probably more water damage than actual fire damage although the entire upstairs was either burned or badly damaged by smoke. The experts with Phoenix restoration have indicated that the entire upstairs will have to be completely gutted and rebuilt. Most of the finished portion of the basement (walls, ceilings, etc.) will also have to be removed and replaced. The early indication is that some of the furniture will be able to be cleaned and deodorized but there is some uncertainty about how much can be salvaged. Same is true for our clothes. All of our food/cooking related items will be disposed of as there is a great deal of caution associated with the type of smoke damage that has permeated the home (burned insulation, plastics, etc.). We will have to replace our furnaces and duct work due to that same toxic smoke residue and at least half, if not all of our roof will have to be replaced. We have a huge blue tarp up there right now and I am anxious to see how that weathers the snow we are expecting Christmas Eve.
We are all snugly tucked into three hotel rooms at Town Home Suites by Marriott (Marriott uses the term "suite" very loosely as these are merely standard hotel rooms with kitchenettes) Trust me, I am not complaining. I feel very blessed that AAA, our insurance company, has acted quickly and professionally. The kids are actually having fun, so far, I think and I am almost sure I overheard Zach joking that "this is going to be fun! We should have burned the house down years ago" The kids Christmas gifts were stashed under the the main floor stairs which, surprisingly since those stairs were almost directly under the bulk of the conflagration and subsequent deluge of water, and managed to escape relatively unscathed. They have to be taken away to be cleaned and also deodorized but ServPro is going to do their best to get them back to us prior to Saturday (fingers crossed). We will spend Christmas Eve and day with kind, generous neighbors.
We are scheduled to be out of the hotel Jan. 5th and into a rental home (assuming they can find a home that will allow 170 lbs. Newfoundlands…) for up to 6 months so all you Pavilions/Whitehorse/Lionsgate/Ironhorse friends please let us know if there is a "lease" home or even a "for sale" or bank owned home close by. I am told that many times they will negotiate a short term lease while the home is for sale. This is particularly true on the bank owned or if the home has been listed for a long time but the leasing company won't find these houses on their own since they only access regular lease properties and Kimmy and I are REALLY hopeful we can stay in or VERY close to our neighborhood so I need help identifying these properties.
A lot of people have so kindly and compassionately reached out to our family and I am truly grateful for this! Forgive us if we seem aloof or unsure of ourselves. We simply are a little lost right now. The most common question is "what can we do for you?" and frankly, we don't know but I can tell you this, we absolutely LOVE the fact that you asked and that, in and of itself, means more to us than anything!
Please rest assured, we are blessed and thankful this holiday season! We are surrounded by beautiful, giving souls and are lucky to be together as a family! Please don't worry about the Kansas Millers. We are fine and living out yet another adventure!
Bless you and yours this holiday season and we wish for you a prosperous and safe 2011!
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