YOUR AD HERE »

Letter: Response to fire overwhelming

Matthew & Audrey Robinson McRaeVail, CO Colorado

On February 22 at 4 a.m., our fire alarms went off startling my husband and me out of sound sleep. I walked into the kitchen to investigate and discovered an orange glow there were flames coming out from behind the electrical outlets. Running into the living room, I discovered that our wood-burning stove had caught the ceiling on fire and was already in between the walls of the home. We called 911 and had just enough time to get our cat and two dogs out before the whole house was engulfed in smoke.Within what I perceived to be 10 minutes the cavalry had arrived. Two fire trucks, about seven or eight police officers, an ambulance and a crisis counselor were on site. The response was immediate and the emergency workers were compassionate and focused on the task of trying to save our home.Going back the next afternoon, we discovered that the building was still standing. Walking in, we realized how lucky we were to be alive. The fire absolutely gutted the kitchen and living room, but the firefighters had tried to save our belongings. Someone moved my wedding dress and precious antiques away from the flames, for which I am really grateful. Our home could have completely burned to the ground if not for their quick actions. I truly want to thank all of those that were involved that night.I would also like to acknowledge the random acts of kindness from people in the valley that have really reached out during this difficult time for our family. The whole crew at Shop & Hop in Eagle-Vail has been wonderful thank you so much. The Vail Church, (who do not know us) has overwhelmed and humbled my husband and me with their organized and incredibly generous donations. Their congregation members hearts are obviously huge and have filled us with hope and gratefulness at the kind of people we are lucky to have living in this valley. The Salvation Army was one of the first calls we received after the fire, they were great. Deborah and Dave Gregory housed us and our animals when we literally had only the clothes on our backs. So many of our other friends have comforted us in a time where we have felt devastated and we are very moved by the outreach of support we have received in the face of this loss. God Bless and again, we thank you all.


Support Local Journalism