You never really know what it would be like until it happens to you, or someone close to you. You hope your family and those around you will never know.
A family’s home in our northwest Naperville neighborhood burned last week, a total loss with the house and all of its contents destroyed. Luckily everyone at home at the time escaped the midnight blaze uninjured, but most of us can only imagine what the family is going through nearly a week later.
We were out of town when the house across the street and three doors down burned. We learned of the devastation the next morning as the texts and social posts hit our phones. What was easily the most emergency activity on our block in the 13 years we’ve lived there unfolded in the middle of the night, completely unbeknownst to us. More than 25 emergency responders from multiple vehicles converged on the scene, neighbors and news reports tell us, battling the fire and ensuring the safety of all residents.
The family was comforted by neighbors up and down the block, all powerless to stop the devastation that was occurring before their eyes. Six hours later, the fire was out, and the long process of restoring normalcy began, the family’s home now uninhabitable. Even their van, parked in the garage, was lost.
The matters of life go on – where would the family spend their nights? What would they wear? What would they drive? What would be for dinner tonight, and tomorrow, and the night after that? The calls with fire investigators, insurance agents, rental car companies. The list goes on and on. All there when you need them most, all with matters that need tending.
This was the fourth major house fire in our neighborhood in the last four years, what seems like a cruelly disproportionate share of tragedy for such a small area. But fire knows no geography, its savagery no limits. It can strike anywhere at any time, and the official cause of this latest blaze remains under investigation. The belief is that it started in the basement, though exactly how has not yet been announced.
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Each fire was a little different, all four bringing their own sets of circumstances. The one in December 2013 was especially tragic, as a couple perished in the blaze and their live-in caregiver succumbed months later to injuries suffered in the fire. But each time, the neighborhood stepped up as appropriate, taking collections, money, clothing, shelter or whatever was needed to help those affected most get through in their time of need.
It’s strange to be so far away when something so devastating is unfolding so close to home. You want to be there for your neighbors and friends, those you know need help the likes of which we all hope that we never will. Luckily, the collective power of human kindness knows no bounds when tragedy strikes. The stories of help and support kept us informed of what was happening back home.
“Thanks so much to all of you for the generous outpouring of love, support, and absolutely unbelievable generosity!!!!” the mother wrote on Facebook three days after the fire.
In this case, as can happen in the wake of such tragedy, the generosity has been more than the victims can manage. Now, the family has even requested that donations be curbed until they are able to better accommodate the flood of clothing and furnishings. We’re reminded that the process of rebuilding a home is a long one.
“We will need friends for many, many months,” the mother later wrote in a subsequent Facebook post. “The kids now have more clothes than they had before the fire. … The donations are completely overwhelming and extremely, extremely, extremely generous. Thank you all so much!!!”
When I was 8, we had a small fire in my childhood home. The fire itself was limited to the kitchen, which was destroyed. Luckily, damage to the rest of the house was limited primarily to just smoke. We were displaced only a short time, if at all. Comparatively, we lost very little when considered alongside many other house fires, like those we’ve seen in our neighborhood in recent years.
My parents and I remained clothed. We still had our furniture. I still had my toys and baseball cards, my most prized possessions at the time. I couldn’t image then, just as I can’t imagine now, what it would be like to be left with nothing.
I like to think that had that fire 35 years ago been worse than what it was, the neighborhood likely would have rallied. That we’d have been taken in and generously given the necessities and comforts we’d lost. Tales of such kindness are not uncommon when these things happen, so probably so.
Our neighborhood has suffered a particularly tough stretch, averaging one such fire a year of late. If you’re not already inclined, it’s enough to make you want to replace your smoke detectors, clean your dryer and have your wiring checked, just a couple of the most common causes of household fires.
Not every fire can be prevented. There will surely be more, though hopefully far fewer, hopefully each comparatively minor, and hopefully further between.
But when it inevitably happens again, it’s nice to know your friends and neighbors are there for you.
Unfortunately, ours have had to show it time and again.
Twitter @RobManker
Rob Manker is a freelance writer who lives, works, parents in Naperville.