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Flames burn the house but not the spirit
By Danna Webster, KP News
Firefighters were dispatched to a late afternoon house
fire the first week of October.
A fire boat from the Anderson Island Fire
Department responds to the Vaughn house fire.
Photo courtesy Brian Heaven |
The Vaughn home of Sylvia
Haase and Virginia Liebergessell was completely
destroyed. According to the Key Peninsula Fire
Department report, a boater in North Bay spotted the
blaze and called 911. Dispatchers used latitude and
longitude data from the cell towers to determine the
location just outside Vaughn Bay.
When firefighters arrived, the home
was nearly 75 percent involved in flames. A fireboat
from Anderson Island and a water tender from Kitsap
County Fire District 7 were called to assist 17 Key
Peninsula firefighters in combating the blaze. The
fireboat was able to douse flames in the main body of
the beachfront home while firefighters on the ground
attempted to stop the fire from extending further toward
the main entry.
The cause was believed to be due to
a wiring staple that had pierced the cable when the home
was constructed. Firefighters remained on the scene to
continue working on hot spots and crews returned the
following day to assist the homeowners with salvage.
Photo courtesy Brian Heaven |
“Picture. Picture. Picture. That’s
my message. Take a picture of everything in your house,”
said Sylvia Haase. The first 10 days after the fire were
spent dealing with the insurance companies, which
required a complete inventory of the contents in the
house. The fire burned everything right down to the
foundation. Hasse says it was easy to remember where the
Steinway stood but showing all the other furniture in
drawings was difficult. Even more difficult was the
attempt to itemize the contents of the cupboards and
every drawer. If a drawer held linens, they had to
provide a count, a cost, and place of purchase.
Photographic records of their possessions had been taken
and were filed on the home office computer, but that
melted in the blaze. “Put the pictures in a safety
deposit box,” Haase said.
Hasse and Liebergessell left their
home on the Wednesday morning of Oct. 3 for a long day
trip. Because they expected to return late that night, a
friend was babysitting their dog, Chester. When they
pulled out of the driveway that morning, they left their
near-perfect dream house, their possessions, their
family heirlooms and mementos, and a brand new remodeled
kitchen. Their sole possessions at their return were the
clothes on their backs and Chester.
Photo courtesy Brian Heaven |
“Friends gathered at Nancy and Tom
Howard’s home, and waited in the road to meet us and
turn us away from our driveway,” said Haase. “They were
crying harder than we were.” Both women are longtime
active members of the Key Peninsula Civic Center.
Rebuilding and starting over is not
easy but the process has begun. Haase shares that this
will be the second time Liebergessell must replace a
grand piano. The first piano was destroyed aboard a ship
during her move to the United States from Australia. The
freight box was stowed on the deck, took on water during
a storm, and the piano sat soaking in the box while a
strike settled at the landing.
Because they are able to rebuild
and replace their losses from the fire, Leibergessell is
redirecting some of the funds collected for them by
friends toward victims of other fire disasters.
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Out of the ashes
Virginia Thompson, longtime
Key Peninsula resident, a good friend, and
member of Haase’s church, wrote her reflection
of the fire tragedy. She called it “Out of the
Ashes.”
“The fire came unexpectedly
in the night. Wild flames desecrated the house,
like a dragon swaying its tail over a life’s
work — built from dreams, to house two retired
school teachers.
Up in smoke went family
heirlooms, records of the past, music, books,
clothing, food, furniture, computers, phones —
all the paraphernalia of modern life. Firemen
came, and were too late.
Next morning, Thursday,
they were picking through the ashes. Looking for
the reason, if there was any reason, for the
consuming fire.
Still some warm spots mind
the carnage. Found a few old photographs, a few
coins from a collection, nothing more.
First came neighbors: ‘Our
house is empty this weekend — come stay there.’
‘My house has been empty since my wife died.
Stay as long as you like.’
Church members came to
stand vigil and took the photos to reconstruct
them in a book. A food chain was planned for
those who wanted to help over the next few days
by preparing meals.
The druggist would not
accept payment for the drugs they needed the
next day. An account was set up at the bank for
anyone who wanted to contribute.
Prayers at church. Of
course, calls from friends.
Out of the ashes came this
incredible outpouring of love and concern, a
fire of another kind.”
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A new piano will be the first
purchase after their house is rebuilt. Plans are forming
to buy the piano, hire a concert pianist and hold a
concert for all their dear neighbors. “That will be a
resurrection,” Haase said in the spirit of her
profession. In 2002, she was ordained as an Episcopal
deacon. She serves the St. Hugh’s Episcopal Church in
Allyn.
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