A Washington County community is rallying behind a family of five that lost their home Friday night.
Friday’s fire in Salem destroyed Alex and Erica Thurber’s home.
Sitting on his parent’s porch in Cambridge, Alex recounts getting the call that his home, which his family had just moved into in December, was ablaze.
“My aunt and three cousins passed away in a house fire years and years and years ago. And my grandma always told me that ‘your aunt will come back as something beautiful.’ And no sooner than she had said that, there was a red cardinal right on her windowsill. So, every time I see a red cardinal I say hi to my aunt Sherry. And two minutes before I got the phone call, as I was working, I did see a red cardinal and I always just naturally said ‘hi, aunt Sherry,” and then two minutes later I got the phone call that my house was engulfed in flames,” said Thurber.
Erica and her two younger sons had left the house minutes before the start of the fire.
“At first I didn’t believe it. But when I got there the house was pretty much black,” said Erica Thurber.
“It went up within minutes,” said Alex Thurber.
“I have never personally had to deal with anything like that. So, as soon as I saw it, I immediately broke down. All our memories were there, our animals were inside. It was our first home together,” said Erica Thurber.
Salem Volunteer Fire Chief Steven Saunders works just down the road from the Thurber’s Salem home. He was the first on the scene.
“It was very, very intense. It’s an old house, very little insulation in it. Fortunately it was straight up like a chimney effect instead of like the one we had on Main Street a year ago where it was wind-driven and it was full of insulation,” said Saunders.
So far, Saunders adds, the fire is being linked to a recalled Motorola baby monitor. He says eight firefighters were treated on scene after being "overcome by the heat." He also recalls a tense moment one firefighter faced.
“An air conditioner fell out of the second floor, landed on his helmet which drove him through the porch floor which he suffered a minor burn. Treated on the scene and released. The other crews went in through the front door. The heat was so intense they backed out. One of the guys came out with severe heat exhaustion and he was treated on the scene and released. When it was all said and done seven other firefighters were overcome by heat. All treated on the scene by Salem EMS,” said Saunders.
The home’s back half is completely charred. Toys are strewn about the yard and a sign reminding Santa Clause to stop at the house is in remarkably good shape.
It’ll take plenty of work to rebuild, but first the Thurbers need to deal with their insurance company.
Alex says he’s eternally grateful no one in his family was injured by the fire, though their pets couldn’t be saved. That includes a beloved dog he found inside after the blaze.
“Well we had two dogs and two cats. We had purebred lab and a purebred German shepherd. The lab was by far my best friend and he was just an idiot, a big dufus, but we absolutely loved that dog. I grew up with a black lab. Carrying my best friend out of there really about killed me,” said Alex Thurber.
Erica says it’s been too painful to try and go back to retrieve any additional salvageable belongings.
“Yeah, my mother gave me a lot of her cookbooks. I don’t use them but they’re sentimental. Ceramic stuff my grandmother made. I had a lot of pictures on my hutch that obviously burned of my grandparents on my dad’s side. We also had our wedding rings and my wedding dress in the house, so that kind of puts a damper on that,” said Erica Thurber.
The Red Cross has coordinated donations to the family and a GoFundMe set up for the Thurbers has nearly reached its goal.
Alex was stunned by the support.
“It’s crazy. If you know me, I’m the type to just figure it out myself. I don’t ask for help, I don’t expect help, it’s incredible. People who I know, people who I don’t know. It’s been amazing. But when I get my chance to pay it forward we certaintly will, there’s no doubt about that,” said Erica Thurber.
Salem Supervisor Sue Clary says she’s not at all surprised by the outpouring of community donations.
“We have a not-for-profit group that’s called SoSalem that immediately we were getting text messages saying ‘can we do this right now,’ and it was approved. I went down and got Visa cards and while I was there three people behind me asked if I was doing it for the young family that had just had the fire, and they were giving me cash to gift to them also. We want to be able to take care of ourselves but we all need help sometimes. And that is so important to remember that give and take. It’s nice to receive but it’s also nice to give,” said Clary.
