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Home Lost In Fire, Community Quick To Offer Help

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

The Logandale home of Susan Waite was severely damaged by fire on Sunday morning. PHOTO COURTESY OF MOAPA VALLEY FIRE DISTRICT.

A Logandale home was ravaged by fire in the early hours of the morning on Sunday, May 26. Fortunately no one was home when the fire started and no one was injured.
But the home, owned by Logandale resident Susan Waite, was considered a total loss in an informal preliminary assessment. The home is located just north of Waite Ave, in Logandale.

At around 4:45 on Sunday morning, Clark County firefighter Gary Robison was on his way out of the valley headed to work in Las Vegas. From the highway he noticed a bright orange glow emanating from the vicinity of the Waite home. Upon further investigation, Robison observed that the attached garage to the structure was on fire, and smoke was billowing from the roof.

A 911 call was immediately made which dispatched local firefighters to the scene.
Robison said that he gained entrance to the house through a back door and did a quick sweep of the residence; specifically of the bedrooms which were on the other end of the house from the garage; but found no one there.

By that time, a few other people, who had also been headed to work early, had seen the fire and come to assist, Robison said.

A few minutes later, firefighters from Logandale Station 73 arrived on the scene and began setting up to fight the fire. Volunteers from Overton Station 74 and Moapa Station 72 also responded. In addition units from the Las Vegas valley were dispatched to the scene. These included County station #23 and North Las Vegas station #57.

According to Moapa Valley Fire District Chief Steve Neel, the nearest fire hydrant to the home was about 1,000 feet away. Firefighters initially began fighting the fire with water stored in tanker trucks. Soon, though, they had laid out a fire hose to connect a truck to the hydrant

Firefighting crews had the blaze under control within about 45 minutes of the emergency call, according to Neel. The crews stayed on scene until around 8:00 am to ensure that the fire was completely out.

“The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but thus far there is no suspicion of foul play or arson,” Neel said.

Both homeowner Susan Waite and her 15 year old daughter who resides in the home with her, were away visiting another member of the family in Salt Lake City over the weekend. Waite’s son, Jeremy, was staying with his in-laws in Boulder City on Saturday night, and was notified of the fire early Sunday morning. He rushed to the scene to see about salvaging household belongings.

Once the fire was brought under control, Jeremy and other family members were allowed to go through parts of the home, that had been left somewhat in tact, to retrieve valuables and other possessions.

“The volunteer firefighters were amazing in helping us save precious sentimental items,” Jeremy said. “They allowed my brother and myself to go in with them where we knew there were valuables that my mom would be heartbroken to lose.”

Jeremy said he was amazed, given how much damage was done to the home, that they were able to retrieve nearly every family photo album including precious photos of Susan’s husband who passed away in 2007.

The family was also touched by the kindness of the community that was shown throughout the next day or two after the fire.
“Hundreds of people reached out offering rooms, trailers and even extra homes,”

Jeremy said. “Many offered clothes, shoes, furniture and other items along with very generous donations.”

An online GoFundMe account was set up for community members and friends to make cash donations to help the Waites get back on their feet. That can be found by searching for “Susan Waite House Fire” at www.gofundme.com. As of Monday morning nearly $10,000 had already been donated to the fund.

“There are so many tender mercies to be grateful for during such a hard time of tragedy,” Jeremy Waite said. “We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many loving and caring people.”

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