Please Pray For My Parents
April officially sucks.
On Tuesday my parents had a fire at there house. From what I understand to be a common problem with wood-burning stoves (which is how my parents have heated their home for the past 23 years) is that oils and residue build up on the chimney which can catch fire and drip down onto the roof. This actually happened to my grandparents about 10 years ago, with what turned out to be minimal damage to their roof.
My parents, however, were not so lucky. Fortunately they were home during the day when it came to their attention that there were flames on the roof. They began quickly running hoses on the roof to try to put the fire out while they waited for the fire department to arrive. At that point, the fire fighters set about their business.... of watching the fire burn for a good 15 minutes before doing anything to prevent it.
From what I hear from my parents (who are living in a motel at the moment in search of an apartment while the mess gets sorted out) the flames reached nearly 15 feet tall off the roof, and collapsed the ceiling into their home. The house is a total loss. Luckily everyone is safe and okay.
They've been shoveling through the rubble of their former life, and everyone is pretty much in a daze. We'll be going up for a few days once things settle down a bit.
So please just think of my parents and pray for them (if you're the praying kind). I know it would mean a lot to them.
My brother has posted a bunch of pictures on his Flickr.