20 years

On Dec 3rd 20 years ago my parents picked me up from school and we stopped at our house before heading into town.

I didnt want to go tire shopping with them

I begged my mom to stay home

She was going to let me but then changed her mind

We left a few minutes later and went into Ogden.

My dad and I were walking through the store when he got a page on the old school pagers that just showed the telephone number

I walked over with him to the payphone where he made a call

I saw him go completely white

He said something to the effect of are you kidding me!?

And no shes here with me shes not in the house

Next thing I know we are running across the store

I wasn't sure what was going on

We got to my mom and sisters and ran into the tire bay

My dad yelled at the guy to get out of the car and he didn't listen so my dad took him out of the car and we all jumped in.

By the time we got on the road I could see a big black thick column of smoke

Our house was on fire

I remember driving home sitting next to my sisters just starring at all the smoke.

I was only 6 and thought it was pretty cool

My mom was crying

The closer we got the thicker the smoke became.

We weren't able to get up our driveway because of all the fire trucks and hose lines across the road

We had to park at the bottom of the road and watch

At the time my dad was the Willard City Fire Chief

He ran up the hill, packed up and went into fight the fire

It had been reported that I was inside the home

Several firefighters risked their lives and ran into the house searching for me while it was fully engulfed

It took hours to get the fire even under control

We sat in the car and watched for a while

My mom took us down to Bert and Wally's house (where I live now) and we played and spent the night in their living room

The home was a total loss

Everything burned

There was a old glass jar full of change in the living room and the coins melted into one large ball it was that hot

Family, friends, neighbors and strangers stepped up and helped us out immensely

Whether it was a place to stay or food or clothes

Being only a few weeks away from Christmas my parents had finished up all their shopping and everything was lost

That year was the best Christmas we had ever had

The basement apartment we found in Willard just a few days later was over flowing with presents

On Christmas eve the door bell wouldn't stop ringing and every time the door was opened more presents were anonymously left on the stairs

I was so young but I was in awe of the love and appreciate the kindness and generosity of those who helped us

If there ever was an example of a community stepping up to help someone that was it

On the 20th year anniversary my dad who at work had months of a dry spell of structure fires had to respond on one

One where the family had lost everything

Kind of an interesting way to remember the day the same thing happened to us