By late Monday, more than 100 people had come to Ascension to wait out the smoke and flames.
Lee Mobley, 73, sat with his wife, Martha, and tried not to ponder what he might not ever see again. The retired chief petty officer in the Navy had 15 minutes to leave, he said.
"It's tough to make a decision in 15 minutes about what you're going to get from your house," he said solemnly.
"We left 22 years of memories from the military there," he added. He also abandoned a car in the garage.
He'd been saving it, he explained, for his grandson.
Others at the church worried about the condition of their wedding pictures and heirloom furniture…..[end excerpt]