My mother took these pictures of the aftermath of the fire. My house looks a wreck! I was thinking...wow, the momsview members are going to think we were slobs. I guess it was just because of the fire, plus a little mess that is natural in our house. LOL

The pictures are all captioned, so you will know what you are looking at. It is so sad to see all of our belongings and memories burned or seriously smoke-damaged. Oh well....

OUR BURNED HOUSE

By Christylee on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 10:07 pm:

Oh my goodness, I wasn't a member at the time this happened so I don't know the story but just was in tears looking at the pictures. I'm SO glad that everyone was okay. I hope things have started to get better for you guys.

Christy

By Bobbie on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 10:30 pm:

Amy, Wow, I am so glad you are all okay. And nothing that is in that mess is as important as what made it out. Possessions come and go. It is actually our memories and our hopes for the future that carry us through. Big hugs to you all and I am glad that you have been able to relocate so quickly.

By Boxzgrl on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 10:38 pm:

oh my, I really DO believe an Angel was with Mike. I'm glad youre all okay!

By Dawnk777 on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 10:42 pm:

Wow, I'm so glad everyone is now okay! Hardly a space in that house was untouched. It is amazing, though, that even though there must have been fire everywhere, that there were so many thing that managed to escape the flames!

By Shellyg on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 10:46 pm:

Looking at those pictures just gives me the chills! The angel pictures.... WOW! Amazing that everyone made it out.

By Mommyathome on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 10:51 pm:

(((((AMY))))))
Thanks for sharing the pictures with us, it must be hard to look at. I was in tears just like Christy, as I looked at the pictures. It's so amazing the little miracles that came out of that. The pictures and videos, the angel, all of you! So amazing.

By Dananivyboo1 on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 10:54 pm:

After seeing that, it really did bring chills to me. I am so very happy everyone is doing fine!!!!

By Hol on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 10:55 pm:

I LOVE the angel picture! However, it is very eerie to look at the rest of them. Thank the Lord that it had a HAPPY ending!

By Amy~moderator on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 12:27 am:

I went back and looked at the pictures again, and there are some things I would like to add...

The house had JUST been painted inside a few weeks before we moved in, November 18th. The walls were bright white. Obviously, they are caked with black soot or burned by the fire. The soot and smoke were the worst the firemen had ever seen, they said.

I noticed in the last picture of Seth's room that the room appears to be trashed. It was actually the least touched by the smoke. We had a baby crib in there in pieces. We hadn't put it together yet because Seth was still sleeping in a bassinet. When I climbed through the window, I knocked all the pieces on the floor, LOL. So that explains the disaster in that room.

There is one picture of the end table in the living room between the two sofas. All the way to the left appears to be a white mess. It is actually my vertical blinds (to the sliding glass doors) that had melted into a big pile.

A lot of things were not touched by the fire, but were smoke damaged. A lot of things I thought I could salvage could not be, because they were saturated with smoke. No amount of cleaning would have gotten that smell out. And that smell is terrible...brings back that bad feeling all over again. Other things were damaged due to the high heat in the house. The firemen said it got up to 1500 degrees in the house, one of the hottest fires they had seen in a long while, they said.

The house had already been rummaged through by myself and the fire chief doing the inspection before the pictures were taken. But the pictures still give the general idea of the aftermath.

About the angel...
Mike had told me, before the picture was ever taken, that for a few seconds while he was on the floor before he completely blacked out, his mother who passed away 2 years ago seemed to be sitting right next to him on the floor singing a song just as she used to while cleaning her house. He feels she was his guardian angel. Of course, we have no proof that she was in that picture, but it is nice to think the angel is "Mama".

By Marcia on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 01:03 am:

Wow Amy! I'm sure it was his mom with him. :o)
Scary, scary pics!!!

By Paulas on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 01:03 am:

Wow, Amy I am so glad that you are all alright. After looking at those pictures it really is amazing, isn't it.

Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

By Trina~moderator on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 06:59 am:

Chills here! Very scary. Wow, it is amazing everyone is OK!

By Karen~moderator on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 07:53 am:

We drove past the house Saturday morning on the way in......no WAY I would have wanted to go inside. It totally gave me chills just to see it with all that yellow tape strung around the outside.

By Hol on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 08:08 am:

Amy- I'm SURE that it was Mike's Mom!! I got a VERY distinct feeling that the "angel" was a FEMALE entity.

How COMFORTING! What a blessing!

By Bellajoe on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 08:21 am:

Wow, those pictures give me the chills! Very scary! Thank goodness you all got out safely.

That is such a cool picture with the angel. And i do beleive it was Mike's guardian angel...his mom.

By Trisa on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 08:32 am:

All I can say is WOW!! So glad you are all ok.
Very scary to look at those!

By Sue3 on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 09:48 am:

I have "goose bumps" all over my body !
Yes , I also think the angel was Mikes
Mother.
Thanks for sharing the photos.

By Truestori on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 10:53 am:

Amy,
I am so happy that everyone in your family is here! It is so weird that almost ever sentimental thing in the house, was salvageable. There was definitly something there watching over your whole family!
P.S. How are you doing and feeling? I hope that you are starting to feel better and Mike is also!

By Marsha on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 12:18 pm:

Amy, Many hugs to you and your family. I think it is wonderful how so many of your special things remained undamaged. Hope you all are doing better with the new year.

By Nanaoie on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 01:16 pm:

I cannot believe that you all are all ok.We never know when stuff like this is going to happen,scares the heck out of me to see your home like this.I never heard the entire story,did this happen in the middle of the night?It must have happened very quickly.I am so sorry for your loss,but, so happy you and your babies are ok.God bless each of you.Big hugs to Mike.Brave daddy he is.

By Babysitbarb on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 02:15 pm:

Wow! seeing pictures lets us know it was as bad as you said it was. Thank God they had Guardian Angels looking out for them that day.

By Kay on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 05:13 pm:

Add my chills in with all the rest! Amy, please know that God has a very special purpose for all of you, for you to have survived that. In a tragedy, so much can go wrong, and few have the positive endings that yours has had. Yes, material things were damaged/ruined, but your lives were spared. I truly believe this will only make you stronger. Lots of hugs here!

By Vicki on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 07:31 pm:

Holy cow!! I don't know what I was expecting to see, but that wasn't it! Thank god everyone made it through this event, that is what is the most important. Things can be replaced!

By Boxzgrl on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 10:20 pm:

Awwwwwww..... Amy, his Mom!!! Now he knows that even though his Mom isn't here in person shes ALWAYS looking over him!!

By Karenfaye on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 10:21 pm:

Im new as of 2 days ago and I just looked at your pictures.WOW!! I don't even know what to say. I am just glad you all are ok. I sort of know how you feel, We were flooded in September and lost everything. 2' of water inside our home. Just enough to cover everything and make a real bad mess.we are in the process of rebuilding. It is devastating to walk in your house and see everything ruined, instead of the soot and melted items like yours, our stuff was full of water and starting to mildew. I understand how it feels to lose all your possessions, but like everyone has said, it is replacable and at least you have your family and everyone is ok.
I am so Sorry for your loss. Take Care of yourself and Keep the Faith.
--Karen

By Debbie on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 08:18 am:

Wow!!! I am so glad all of you are okay. It is really scary to look at those.

By Insaneusmcwife on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 11:51 am:

I ditto the "Wow". Thank god you all made it out.