Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests My cousin's house burned down (with pics)

I was over at my mom's house tonight, waiting to leave to go with her to meet my great aunt and 2nd cousin for Cinco de Mayo. Another aunt called and said my cousin's house (her daughter) caught fire. Except for some of her kids stuff on the 2nd floor, everything is a complete loss. They're pretty sure it was a problem with the dryer. My cousin said it had been feeling warm even though she wasn't using it, but I guess it didn't dawn on her to unplug it.

Fortunately, no people were home at the time. Unfortunately, her dog and two cats were. They died in the fire I had never "met" the cats before, but the dog was a big black mutt, looked like he had some black lab in him, and a gray chest. Nicest dog you could ever get, he was great with the kids. We don't know if the firefighters knew there were pets inside or not, and if they did, I guess they just couldn't get inside fast enough.

Another unfortunately (and rather stupid)... My cousin had not paid the insurance on the house because she was broke and was waiting for student loans to come in to pay it. So the house, which my Uncle actually owns, is gutted, and no money to fix it or replace lost stuff. At least the fire didn't affect surrounding houses, so my Uncle doesn't have to worry about getting sued.

Now my cousin, her two kids (one 5, one 8), and her live-in boyfriend are pretty much homeless and don't have anything. I think they can stay at the YWCA for a few days, and she'll try to get into the student apartments.

Two morals of the story... Pay your insurance. And if you leave pets alone, put stickers on your doors/windows so the firefighters know there are pets inside, just in case.

Man.. i could imagine the mental and emotional stress they'd start going through. I'm already going through mine.. and I know this isn't the beginning.

My best wishes to your cousin, and family

Wow! Best wishes to your cousin and family.

I went over to the house with my mom today to see the damage..
My Uncle and his friends are going to rebuild the house over the next few months. The kids' rooms were upstairs. A couple of their toys were salvagable, and the furniture may be able to be used again after a good cleaning. Here's a couple pics:

Kitchen


Living Room


My cousin's boyfriend's brother lives above the garage out back. He'll usually put his dog in the house during the day so the dog will have some company with the dog that was killed in the fire. The brother was running late that day and didn't have a chance to put the dog in the house..



Few more pictures http://www.webmasterp.com/gallery/fire51003

Sorry to hear about this. Hope your family is able to recover, man.

Wow, my best wishes to your family
Hope they are able to move back in soon.

Sorry, that's a lot of stress for a person to handle in a short amount of time. My prayers are with you.

Jesus, that's horrible. I don't know what I'd feel worse about - the belongings or the pets

I feel so bad for that poor dog...