The first weekend of the new year proved devastating for a Holtville family when a winter fire took their home and claimed most of their belongings while they were away visiting family the night of the blaze, fire officials said.
However a community responded almost immediately with a network of people forming to organize a relief effort for the family.
Holtville Fire Chief Forrest Gregg said his crew was preparing for a steak dinner that Saturday night.
“That was the day we were having our year-end dinner, we were supposed to have it that night,” said Gregg. “We were about to cook steaks. Within minutes we were there.”
The Holtville Slapout Volunteer Fire Department is only a short drive down State Route 111 from the residence sitting at the intersection of Hogan Road.
From Gregg’s description the fire was a typical winter fire caused from an electrical outlet.
“The thing that was plugged up in that general area was a heater so it was related to the cold,” Gregg said. “It’s just lucky that the family was staying with their mother at the time.”
“It looks like basically a plug had failed,” Gregg said. “It actually started in a bathroom and went up the wall into the attic.”
The fire was confined to the roof he said, but due to the age of the house – dating roughly back to the early 20th century – Gregg said repairing the damage would not have been too expensive.
“This house was built in the early 30s. (It) was in the documentary ‘The Story of Holtville,’” Gregg said referring to a 1945 production on the town.
In what Gregg called a “freak accident,” while the firefighters were leaving the scene in the “clean up stage,” one broke his leg stepping over debris. However Gregg said he is recovering.
Shortly after reports of the fire and pictures from the scene circulated through social media, several offers arose by those with items they wished to donate to the newly displaced family.
A sort of network formed through which those items – necessities like clothes, beds and school supplies – were collected.
Key figures in the effort emerged. Some were local school officials, others were members of the business community, and some described themselves as merely involved Elmore County residents.
Wetumpka Elementary School Councilor Natasha McMillan volunteered clean book bags and school supplies from a reserve she said was set up for such an instance.
“At the beginning of the year I do a drive where people donate school supplies to me,” said McMillan. She said it was simply called a “donation drive.”
Though the items are typically reserved for WES students, McMillan said she asked some of those who donated the goods what they thought before helping out the Holtville family.
“I’m from Holtville. My heart’s in Holtville,” McMillan said.
At least two businesses located only a few miles from the home along Holtville Road offered their assistance storing what was described as at times overwhelming amounts of items donated to the family.
Owners of the tattoo parlor, Madd Tatter, Jeanice Strength and Ryan Wells, allowed use of a room in their building for that purpose.
“We’re just friends in the community,” said tattoo artist Tory Scruggs. “We’re doing whatever we can.”
Owners of Lake Jordan Storage, Susie and Charles Duck, volunteered a storage unit.
“Well when they called, of course, that need was there … as Christians we were supposed to help those (in) need,” said Susie Duck. “It was not even a question.”
“The girl that called around when she called us we didn’t even hesitate.”
The person Duck was referring to was Tonwell Mullis of Wetumpka.
Mullis has largely organized the effort to collect donated goods and transport them for the family, along the way communicating with them to find out their needs.
“We’ve never met them before,” said Mullis. “We kind of rolled up on the post on Facebook Sunday afternoon. They had kids our age and size.”
Initially she said they only wanted to donate items, but quickly Mullis took the lead on the overall effort to connect the goods to the family.
After collecting a volume of items, the next challenge became storing them, and with no place to deposit large things like beds, Mullis said she sought out a storage unit and Duck accepted.
“There’s so many folks that are just willing to donate when this stuff happens,” Mullis said.
She said a majority of the donations were coming from families and individuals that had suffered in similar incidents, like house fires.
Mullis said her own children, a daughter, 11, and son, 7, gathered clothes and toys once they learned of similar-aged children whose home was destroyed.
She said her son donated toy cars he got roughly two weeks prior for Christmas.
