DAYTON – The Elmo Fire broke out Monday afternoon as strong winds blew the fire east, forcing evacuations.
A Dayton couple had been building their dream home for the past 18 months and felt helpless as they watched their home go up in flames.
“We don’t know where to go… it was our savings… we have no idea, it’s less than 24 hours so we’re trying to figure it out, we’ve got two dogs in the car and it’s just shoes so we just have to start over ” said fire victim Lisa Hollett.
Lisa and Steve Hollett lost their dream home in Dayton when it was destroyed in the Elmo Fire, just weeks before they were due to move.
“You can’t have home insurance until the home is finished, so we had construction insurance, which is like (small hand gesture) and my husband did it himself, so there’s no reimbursement for that either,” Hollett said.
Lisa was due to join her husband in retirement at the end of the year. Now she searches for answers, thinking about what could have been… and what’s next.
“And we’re too old to do it again, so that was it, we’re not going to do it again.”
Bridget Cooley, who has lived in Dayton since 1993, said she couldn’t believe what she witnessed Monday afternoon when the Elmo Fire raged out of control.
“Move, move! The smoke and the flames and the flames everywhere, there were little ones here, there were little ones and pretty soon it was like it was accelerated, you just can’t believe it,” Brigitte said.
Brigitte is amazed by the pilots who fly planes through the thick smoke.
“To guide these planes through the smoke, I will tell you they deserve a promotion, a bonus and recognition, it’s like being in the military, sometimes you know it’s a war, we have a war against this fire.”
Lisa hopes no one else will suffer the pain her family endured as the Elmo fire raged.
“We just watched it go up in flames, we were standing here and this was our retirement home, our dream home that we’ve been building for 18 months, and it’s gone, it’s all gone,” Hollett said.
Those who want to help Lisa and Steve Hollett can do so here.
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