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Rising from the Ashes: Family sees outpouring of support after home is destroyed by fire
By Marthe Stinton, mstinton@starlocalnews.com
John and April Pearson are still shaken after a fire swept through their home the morning of Dec. 13.
No one was home as the flames engulfed the family's worldly possessions. Fire scaled the walls to the attic and raced through the home quickly, leaving nothing behind but ash and the memory of a happy home.
"I found out about it at 11 a.m. on Thursday when the fire department called me to let me know there was a fire at the house," John said. "They said it was accidental; probably something electrical in the kitchen area. I'm not a carpenter by trade but three-quarters of the house is completely gone. The only thing holding it up is the brick façade on the outside of the house."
Explaining the situation to their sons - Riley, 6, and Mason, 4 - was the most difficult part of the process, John said.
"It's hard," John said in an attempt to regain composure. "You try to provide for them and keep them safe then something like this happens and you have no control over it. There is nothing you can say or do about it to make it stop. You just try to make light of the situation around them. Riley had nightmares the first night even though we never let either one of the kids see the house."
Riley is in cub scouts and had an event to attend on Saturday. April and John wanted Riley to maintain some sense of normalcy after the fire, but had no uniform for him. When John called Shawn Rowe, cub master of Pack 133 in The Colony, he simply asked that Rowe find a cub scout uniform and a ride for Riley. The Pearson's received much more.
"That's all I asked for," John said. "I started getting phone calls saying that Corine [Shawn's wife] and Shawn had contacted the rest of the pack, Girl Scouts and the American Legion. People had donated furniture, gift cards, and monetary donations to a point that the check I had to write to lease the new house was covered. I was able to cover the first months rent and we have been donated living room, dining room furniture, food, bunk beds for the boys, a new mattress and box springs for my wife and I clothes for all of us. It's just ... amazing."
The Pearson's have moved into a new home and are beginning to pull their life back together. The donated furniture is providing a sense of home life that was robbed just days before. Christmas gifts have been replaced by donations, both monetary and in-kind, and the Girl Scouts have donated a Christmas tree with all its sparkling trimmings, which the boys and April will be decorating immediately.
While the climb out of the ashes remains ahead for the Pearson's, the community is standing by with arms outstretched. There has been an account established in their name at Chase Bank in The Colony, hundreds of dollars have been donated by community members, the fire department has taken donations and Metro Relief has provided food and their assistance.
As each day passes, the Pearson's find themselves unable to comprehend the giving spirit of the community, John said.
"I am not a perfect person," John said through tears, "and in today's world you think to yourself that there is no way there are people out there that care about someone else. Then you see the community support and its ... overwhelming. Between the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, American Legion, BB Owens Elementary and complete strangers ... The words 'thank you' do not even come close enough to show how much appreciation we have."
April said, while many of their needs have been met, paper products, towels and shoes for Mason - he wears a boys size 12 - would be greatly appreciated. Those wishing to donate, can do so at Chase Bank in The Colony by making a deposit in the names of April and John Pearson.
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