Family's belongings reduced to cinders in fire

SHANNON VELEZ

Whitefish Pilot

At 3:30 a.m. last Wednesday, Lisa Theabolt, a local hairstylist, woke to a crackling sound that she could not immediately identify.

"I was just laying there thinking 'what is that sound,'" Theabolt recalled.

When she got up to investigate, she encountered a wall of black smoke just outside her bedroom door of her Columbia Falls rental. She ran and opened a side door and then ran back to her room where her 10-year-old daughter, Brittany, and her fourteen-year-old son Tyler were sleeping. She roused them out of bed and screamed for her older son, nineteen-year-old Nick to get out of the house.

In retrospect, Theabolt said that with her husband out of town that night, she was grateful that her children, who normally sleep on the other side of the house, had opted to sleep in her room.

The family ran out into the cold January morning "mush and muck" with bare feet, dressed only in what they had worn to bed. Nick was the only one who managed to slip his shoes on before heading out the door.

As Lisa ran to call 911 she slipped and fell, fracturing her wrist, an injury which she wouldn't feel until the next day. Meanwhile, Nick realized that their three dogs had not followed them out of the house and ran back to the side door. He pounded on the floor and called their names. Only two of the dogs , Coda and Skyler, came out. He could hear Madison, their third dog whining but she never came to the door. Neighbor, Rob James, held Nick back from entering the burning home after her.

James and his wife, Britt, brought out blankets and coats for the family.

"They were absolutely phenomenal," Theabolt said. "They were completely calm and took control."

Standing outside watching her house go up in flames, Theabolt said that the smoke was so thick and it was so dark out that she was able to hold onto some semblance of hope that something might survive.

The next morning, in the light of day, when she was allowed to go back to the house to pick out what she could, Theabolt saw cinders.

"It was full of black and soot. There was nothing left," she said.

Even their car, which was parked outside of the garage where the fire started, was destroyed with the windows blown out and one whole side melted.

The Columbia Falls Department investigations revealed that, out of the four smoke detectors in the house, only two of them were functional. In the panic of the moment, Theabolt doesn't remember if she heard the smoke alarms or not.

The Theabolts had no renters insurance.

"We've learned a very hard lesson," she said. "When you see something like this on TV you think 'I feel so sorry for them,' but you never think it's going to happen to you. It's a nightmare."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation but Columbia Falls Fire Chief, Joe Tamburelli said that the fire started near a sofa in the garage.

While everything that the Theabolts have worked for is gone, they have much to be grateful for - the safety of their family and the support from friends, neighbors, co-workers and the surrounding communities which has been amazing, Theabolt said.

Theabolt is especially greatful to her co-workers at 33 Baker Salon in Whitefish who have rallied around her.

"They have been so supportive. They are holding me together," she said.

The one thing Theabolt pulled from the wreckage was a piano her grandmother gave to her when she was ten years old. And while it's burnt black, banged up and soot-covered she says that it is the one thing she will keep, regardless, until she gets the funds to referbish it.

Right now the Theabolts are in need of literally everything from the basics, such as clothing, and toiletries, to the larger items, like appliances and furniture. If you wish to help out, a savings account has been set up in their name at the Parkside Federal Credit Union or you can contact Mark and Lisa Theabolt at 257-9265.

In reflecting on this tragedy, Theabolt says that if she could have done something differently it would have been to make sure the fire detectors were up to par and to get renters insurance. But for right now she is just glad that her family is all alive and well.

"A fireman told us that if we hadn't woken up when we did, we never would have made it out," she said.