Carlton Green ponders the next move after he and his family lost their home and belongings to a fire one week ago. Green and his wife, Heather, are soldiers on Fort Huachuca. (Ed Honda-Herald/Review)
Posted on 02/28/2006 5:03:54 PM PST by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — It started as a typical day. Three older children headed for school, two younger ones went to a day-care center and the parents went to work.
But, the Green family was to see their lives change when slightly after 8 a.m. on Feb. 21 the house they called home caught fire.
For Carlton and Heather Green, both sergeants first class assigned to Fort Huachuca, sitting outside their home in a quiet Sierra Vista residential area on Monday the shock of an event a week ago still haunts them.
It is also distressing to their three older children, Kirk, 17; Cartel, 15; and Jordan, 10, and somewhat confusing to Carlie, 3, while 18-month-old Carson could be oblivious to what happened.
“We’re staying in guest housing on post while we’re trying to find a house to rent,” Heather said.
From what was a tri-level house the family of seven is currently living in two rooms.
Carlton said the older boys are in one room while he and his wife and the two young children are in another. Kirk and Cartel attend Buena High School, and Jordan goes to Huachuca Mountain Elementary School.
According to firefighters “It was a hot and fast-moving fire,” he said.
The blaze started in a lower bedroom and spread out through part of the house, with flames going outside and then re-entering the top bedroom area as it continued to spread, Carlton said.
What started the fire is still under investigation, and the family is waiting for a determination from the insurance company before they can start rebuilding.
Inside the home, black soot covers walls, ceiling and floors.
Charred pieces of wood that once were bannisters and doors can be seen.
What furniture did not burn has been made useless by smoke and water damage.
The outlines of where framed pictures once hung are clearly visible.
The pictures that didn’t burn were taken down and cleaned so the family’s memories can be salvaged, Heather said.
It was about 8:40 on Feb. 21 when she received a phone call from a neighbor telling her the house was on fire.
Calling her husband, they were rushed to the scene by her detachment commander, Capt. Chris Bradke. Heather is a counterintelligence agent and the noncommissioned officer in charge of a detachment of Company C, 308th Military Intelligence Battalion, of the 902nd Military Intelligence Group on the post. Carlton recently reclassified from being a ground surveillance radar operator to an intelligence analyst with Company A, 309th Military Intelligence Battalion.
The Greens have owned the house, constructed in 1995, for four years.
While human life was spared, the family lost three birds and some fish in an outdoor pond.
Two dogs were saved by next-door neighbor Lisa Rubin, who performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on one of the animals, Heather said, adding the woman even paid for the veterinarian bill. Rubin continues to care for the dogs.
Tuesday, Bradke was at the house delivering the third truck full of items, mostly clothing, to Heather and Carlton.
Both Greens praised the support they have received from the military family community.
And, the neighbors have been more than helpful, Heather and Carlton exclaimed.
All the clothes, except what was being worn that day, were destroyed or ruined by the blaze. The two NCOs lost all their uniforms.
The children lost items special to them, including a doll house that was a Christmas present for Carlie.
This is the second incident involving fire which has destroyed household goods of GI families. In January, the Henderson family who had just arrived and was waiting to settle into a rental home, found out 90 percent of their household goods were destroyed by a fire in a moving van.
The Hendersons saw their furniture replaced within four days by the kind reaction from local people.
So far for the Greens, a few items of furniture have been donated and are being held until they can find a place to rent.
What they are finding difficult is locating a house to rent for a short period until their home is repaired, which could take from three to five months.
Carlton said most landlords want a six-month-to-a-year lease, but all they can guarantee is at least three months with additional time on a month-by-month basis.
For Heather, it is important to have a home setting for the children.
“We need to restore some normalcy to our kids’ lives,” she said.
How to help
Those who are interested in helping the Green family can call:
-- Chaplain (Capt.) Carren Jones at 533-8894. She is the chaplain for the 309th Military Intelligence Battalion.
-- Capt. Jeff Chase at 533-1453. He is the commander of Company A, 309th Military Intelligence Battalion.
The drop-off point for donations is at the Murr Community Center, but people are asked to contact Jones or Chase first.
A bank account for the Green family has been opened at the Sierra Vista office of Bank of America. For those who wish to donate to the account, the number is 4378808147.
Sending prayers... it sounds as if they have a lot of friends helping them out. I was going to send clothes for the kids, but they don't need anymore :). Wonderful to hear, though I know it will be hard for them losing so much.
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