Blaze Displaces Waitsburg Family

"At 1:54 p.m. dispatch received the emergency call. At 1:56 p.m. the city fire whistle was sounded. At 1:59 p.m., the City ambu- lance arrived on the scene," read EMS technician Sharon Brooks. Glancing up from the report, she added, "That's when I realized the house fire we were respond- ing to was my own home." By 2:22 p.m. the fire was out and "mop-up" had officially begun. For the Brooks fam- ily, "life as usual" will be some time coming.

March 22 started out as a typical Friday afternoon for the Brookses. Sharon was on duty at the EMS office in Waitsburg, 13 year-old son, Tyler and 17 year-old daughter, Carolyn were in school and 19 year-old Chris was at work. No one was home when Brooks' brother- in-law noticed smoke and called in the fire report.

In spite of the timely response of fire crews, the blaze, believed to have origi- nated outside the dwelling, gutted the living room, most of the kitchen and caused extreme smoke damage to the remainder of the singlewide trailer.

The home was uninsured. "People don't understand why we didn't have insur- ance," said Brooks, who lost her husband to cancer two years ago. "When Rick was out of work, I had to choose what to pay and I chose food and lights over insurance. I thought I could re-start the insurance once we were back on our feet. Then I learned that the trailer was so old that they wouldn't renew coverage, once it had lapsed. There was no way to get it reinstated."

Brooks is unsure what the future holds, and each call to City Hall resulted in more obstacles to overcome. The family is currently living in their RV, parked in front of the destroyed trailer, as they sift through the rubble. A city ordinance, however, prohibits the use of an RV as a residence for more than three weeks.

Brooks received an op- timistic lead on a four-bed- room, three-bath, double- wide, in good condition, priced low due to foreclo- sure. She considered mov- ing it to the spot where the current trailer sits.

However, just prior, she'd learned of another City ordinance that requires modular homes, not located in a trailer park, to be five years old or newer. This house didn't qualify.

Brooks is not optimistic about the likelihood of pulling together the funds necessary to meet city requirements. "I never thought I'd be a widow at 45 and homeless before my 48th birthday," she said. "Still, we are all safe and we have each other. I know we'll get through it."

Brooks moved to Waits- burg in 1986, raised her family here, and continues to play an active role in the community. She volunteered with the Cub and Boy Scouts from 1995 to 2003, holding positions at both local and regional levels. She also worked as a volunteer EMS technician from 2001 to 2006, when she was hired to her current part-time position. "She's given so much to the community. We have to do what we can to give something back," said Waitsburg Fire Cheif Brian Callahan.

The family is in the pro- cess of assessing clothing and household goods to determine what might be salvageable. Though Brooks knows they will need beds and mattresses eventually, she is waiting on a determi- nation regarding long-term living arrangements before making specific requests.

Immediate needs are food, funds to hire a mover to clear and dump the trailer remains, and funds for a replacement home. Physical donations can be delivered to Waitsburg Chapel at 320 W. 2nd. Financial dona- tions can be deposited to the Sharon Brooks Fund at both the Waitsburg and Dayton branches of AmericanWest Bank.