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Benefit dance for Blackburn/Swanson family
When: Feb. 19
Where: Huckleberry’s Hideout, Broken Bow
Dance to the music of Borderline from 9-1, with proceeds going to the Blackburn/Swanson family. $6/person, $10/couple. Donation bucket will be available as well. Sponsored by Elks Lodge 1688 & Huckleberry’s Hideout. By ELLEN MORTENSEN
Chief Editor
The fire was tragic, but it could have been so much worse. Jessica Blackburn will be the first to tell you that.
They almost didn’t go to Kearney that day. They almost had Grandma and Grandpa come to the house to watch the boys rather than take the boys out. But Jessica and her fiance, Andrew Swanson, decided to go, decided to take the boys to the grandparent’s house and decided to leave an hour earlier than originally planned. Those decisions may have saved their lives.
Andy Holland, with the Broken Bow Fire Department, says the fire call came in at 5:01 p.m. Saturday evening. Six pieces of equipment and 25 fire and EMS personnel responded to the call of a house fire located at 1309 North B in Broken Bow. For the second time in less than a week, local emergency workers raced to save what they could of someone's home and belongings.
According to Holland, the fire started in the garage of the home. The cause of the fire remains undetermined. Fire trucks remained on the scene until nearly 8:30 p.m., and Holland says at least one firefighter was on scene off and on all night.
The garage and kitchen area of the home received heavy fire damage, while the rest of the house incurred extreme smoke damage. Holland says there did not appear to be any smoke alarms in the home, which Blackburn and Swanson were renting.
While there is certainly no good time for a tragic event such as a house fire, this could not have come at a much worse time for the family. Jessica and Andrew are planning to be married in June, and had a baby boy just three months ago. They also both recently lost their jobs, and had no renters insurance on their belongings.
Jessica’s pregnancy didn’t go exactly according to plan, and she had to leave her job when ordered to bed rest. To make matters worse, Andrew was laid off from his job at BD, and Jessica says given the time of year and job market right now in the area - jobs are scarce.
Because of their employment situation, Jessica says they had to decrease the insurance coverage on her Dodge Dakota pickup which was heavily damaged in the fire. But that was not the worse thing the family lost. One dog and two cats perished in the blaze.
When the family went back in and began sifting through the home the next day, salvaging what they could, they discovered a ray of hope in the most unlikely source - a salamander named Bob.
Gabe, age 9, had left the salamander in his room - as always. Knowing the other pets had not survived the fire, Jessica and Andrew were certain they would find Bob had met the same fate. But not so.
“We were going through Gabe’s room and found the little container where he kept his salamander in the corner,” Jessica says. “It was full of dirt. And when we dumped the dirt out, there was Bob - just fine!”
It was a small miracle, but sometimes - in the midst of tragedy - it is the little things that bring the greatest hope.
Jessica says they were able to salvage more items from the house than they thought they might. She did have to discard all of baby Hayden’s clothes, as they were exposed to the fire fighting chemicals. However, through the generosity of local citizens Hayden’s clothes have been replaced.
Unfortunately many of the items which were totally lost are things that cannot be replaced. Jessica kept many of her sentimental things - baby books, photo albums - in the garage. It was all destroyed.
Jessica says the family has received a lot of help from the Red Cross, Salvation Army, CNCS and concerned citizens.
“We have gotten money from people I don’t even know,” she softly adds.
The family is currently staying in a local hotel, arranged for them by the Red Cross. They are unsure where they will go next, and therefore unsure about just what items they will need. For now they are just thankful they have each other and a community that cares. |
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