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| This is not Carol's fire. I have been unable to open the attachment she sent. of the fire damage. |
One of the drawbacks in living in the country is that often, a firetruck can't get out to outlying area quite as quickly as they might in a suburban one. This situation can furthur be exacerbated by the fact that in much of rural America, it would be cost prohibitive to install fire hydrants. Therefore, rural fire fighting, in many areas, is limited to the use of pumper trucks which carry water from local lakes, ponds or rivers. This can limit the amount of water held by the pumper truck with which to fight forest and brush fires and with which to protect barns and houses. The other issue is that anything from ignition of grasses from target practice, to lightning, or careless handling of cigarettes can start fires which spread quickly.
This week, one of our friends, Carol, from a rural area in Tennessee had her house burn down. She was notified of the fire by barking dogs, and it is felt that the fire began in the compressor of her freezer. She believes that she has lost a cat, and two of her dogs are missing. They may have run off frightened by the fire, and they may yet return. Her other dogs survived, but her house, her clothng, her photographs, her computer, and ALL of her preparedness supplies are gone. Her Berkey, which was full, is missing it's handles, and it's filters are gone. Her canning devices are metal blobs, and her canning jars look like modern art. This occurred night before last and the objects in the home remain very hot. She thinks she may be able to salvage one of the cast iron frying pans.
Carol has little surviving family and was very good to me when my son Daniel, 12, died suddenly. Jim Cobb, a mutual friend of ours, has created a way that Carol can receive donations through Paypal. Jim is a co-owner of www.survivalweekly.com 100% of what is donated will go straight to Carol. She has no homeowner's insurance and has known quite a few challenges in the last several years. Even just a few dollars will add up substantially, so please don't be afraid to donate just a few, if you can.
The page to donate to Carol is:
http://survivalweekly.com/2237/collecting-donations-for-a-prepper-in-need/
I have donated myself, and it is an easy process, and Jim will make sure Carol gets it all.
Being the prepared and resilient woman that she is, Carol has reported to us many of the things which have occurred to her since this fire. She has said that she is very grateful to have had a well stocked "Bug out bag" in her vehicle when this happened. She also wishes to encourage us all to layer our preps. If possible, keep your supplies not only in your house, but in outbuildings too, perhaps in metal trash cans.
Carol hasn't said this, but I am thinking that we should all scan our family photos, and make discs of them and store them either with close friends, or in a safe deposit box. Every one of us is vulnerable to fire.
I will post updates as I can. Thanks for any help you can give, even just a couple of dollars.
Carol has few surviving relatives. She is presently simply camping on her farm. She not only has nowhere else to go, but she needs to stay there in order to make sure no hot embers from the house fire start brush or forest fires, in view of the dry conditions on her farm.
