Everyone was home when it happened, including their five-month-old daughter and our cousin, who lived with them. Everyone is safe, including the dog. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the neighbours.
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The fire started at the neighbour's house. They were using a food smoker, which overheated and exploded, catching the side of the house and the nearby trash on fire. There were nine people in the house, many of whom were family visiting from out of state. All of the children got out safely, but the homeowner himself was severely burned. It's my understanding that he was taken off of life support yesterday afternoon. They also lost both their cats and one of their dogs.
When the fire jumped over and hit my brother's house, everyone inside was asleep, having only recently gone to bed. They all work late shifts, and the guys had stayed up a bit later to play video games together. They were woken up by the bright light coming in through the window, and when they saw the fire, Amber rushed outside to try to put it out with the garden hose, but it was too late to do anything. My brother got the baby and the dog into the car and woke my cousin, who is an EMT. And in a case of professional people panicking under unexpected stress, Josh utterly failed to find his phone, wallet, or work ID, which were all sitting right on his dresser where they always were.
Even though the inside of the house itself appears fine (aside from having no ceiling, because the fire crew had to bust it down to get into the attic) the house is a total loss. The fire destroyed the roof and attic, and got into the walls in a few places, meaning the house as to be completely torn down and rebuilt. When the fire spread, it hit the baby's room first, and then my brother's, so all of their stuff is completely gone, either from smoke or water damage. Yesterday, the insurance company sent round the removers to take away everything and clean what can be cleaned. Anything that can't be cleaned or repaired will be replaced, but it does mean they're looking at about six months of living in a hotel. At least my mother had gone into serious grandma mode, so we had a crib and a bunch of other essentials here that we gave to them.
Tomorrow, my cousin and I are going to go out looking for apartments, since Robin Hood and I have been looking for a place for a while. We'd already given him a standing offer to move in with us if he ever changed his mind about living with my brother, but now that he's living out of his car and couch surfing, he's totally willing to move in with us. We're going to start our search at the building Josh used to live, and go from there.
But really, to quote my brother:
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