Since 01/15/2013, when my place was burned to the ground, I've been living like I'm in a 3rd world country; since, I seem to fall through the cracks of every disaster recovery assistance program/agency I've been able to find. I've built an 8'x16' shed for my dogs and I to live in; but, I still have no indoor plumbing and no hot water, other than what comes out of the hose in the summer. With the temperatures too low to even heat the water in the hose, I'm back to not even being able to bathe out here, until mid to late May... Asking for help has never been something I've been any good at; but, given the circumstances, I don't have much of a choice... To be able to move forward on the 16'x16' (the 1st side will be a bathroom, closet space, and [eventually] laundry room; the 2nd side will be a basic kitchen and pantry area), I don't see any way around having to come up with an old truck. Such a truck would need to be a minimum of 17 years old (for me to be able to afford to keep it tagged); but, preferably no newer than an '88; since, starting about '89, they started piling so much electronics into them that it makes them almost impossible to fix them when they break, without $100,000 worth of diagnostic equipment; plus, all sorts of other special equipment...) Also, it would preferably be a standard; since, I can rebuild a clutch on my own; but, an automatic transmission requires specialized equipment and skills which I don't have. I couldn't care less about any cosmetic stuff, as long as it steers (at least reasonably) straight and has a rear bumper that will handle a utility trailer.
Such a truck would initially be used for clearing the area for the 16'x16'; and, be used for hauling "wash out" ("poor man's gravel") from the local Dolese concrete plant. (If you show up w/a trailer, it's free to haul off; but, if they have to deliver it, it was $80 a dump truck load the last time I checked, which I can't afford. Also, spreading an entire dump truck load before it starts turning into big clumps isn't something I can physically do any more. A utility trailer load, over 2 or 3 days, "does a number on me;" but, is do-able...) Once I have enough wash-out built up to protect the floor framing, it would get used to haul scrap, to finance the lumber I'd need to get started; and, to haul such lumber home. It would later get used to haul (probably donated to haul off) scrap to get the rest of the lumber I'll need; since, nowhere seems inclined to donate Lowe's cards. (Donated Lowe's cards would be wonderful; but, not something I'm going to count on ever "appearing"!) With a truck, I'd also be able to avail myself of a lot of the "free to haul off" stuff that's listed on the OKC craigslist, some of which I could use; and, some of which I could sell to be able to get lumber, plumbing/electrical supplies I'll need, etc. Any ideas of any organizations or wealthy individuals who might be willing and able to help me to help myself??? Any ideas of a 501c3 with a vehicle donation program the might be willing and able to act as an intermediary for me; since, it seems as though the folks who are the most able to donate will only do so if there's a way to make it tax deductible... :( If you can't afford to help financially, PLEASE help by spreading the word as widely as possible through social media, etc. ***************************************************** I've finally been able to get my fire report scanned. Although it SAYS "download file," if you click on that, it will open the document as a .pdf... It was rather carelessly filled out by the investigator from the state fire marshal's office; and, has some inaccuracies; but, at least it is documentation that the fire really did occur...
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02/08/14 UPDATE:
As of earlier this week, I may have found a solution for the problem of it seeming like those who are in a position to help, without it biting into the bare necessities, only being willing to help if it's tax deductible... (When they'll do it, even then.) I've been given permission by my contact person (Betty) at the OKC Arch-Diocese Chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society to fund-raise for a "Between The Cracks Fund," to not only help me get an old truck and maybe a Lowe's card; but, hopefully, to be able to help some other folks who fall through the cracks, as well. In addition to the fact that SVDP is a registered 501c3, this alliance also provides a better level of verification and oversight, for those who don't know me. All the scam artists around have surely been a part of the difficulty in getting help to rebuild. Up to now, if someone didn't know me persorsonally; or, at least knew someone who does know me personally, they had no way of knowing that I'm "legit." If you know of a person or business that might be willing to donate, please direct them to the OKC Chapter; and, let them know to denote any monetary donations "Between the cracks fund." If anyone has a vehicle to donate, they would need to donate it directly to that chapter to get a fair market value deduction; since, the vehicles donated through the national program are required to be auctioned, which generally won't equal the fair market value. Here are the links, which are verifiable by any search engine (you might need to right click them): http://stvincentdepaulokc.org/ and: http://stvincentdepaulokc.org/howcanihelp.html |
A friend has started a 2nd site, to aid in the recovery. :)
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The January 2013 Fires:
(pictures below)
Around 8:30pm, 01/15/13, while watching TV w/my neighbor to the west, who's back had been out on him for over 2 weeks. (I had sold him the SW corner of my property, about 5 years ago.) I heard what sounded like a semi on private gravel the drive that I share with 2 other homes. There's no good reason for a semi to be on this drive; and, the scumbag who caused the '05 "CF" (and got my name dragged through the mud!) is a trucker. He "wasn't happy" with me back on 07/31/12, when I finally got a good phone number for him and caught him on tape admitting why he'd made up all that crap back then. I had given my word to the guy who gave me the number that I would never, under any circumstances, reveal his identity; and, I kept my word, despite his repeated demands for me to tell him how I got his number. Needless to say, my first thought was that this guy was "paying me a visit;" so, I was gathering up my flashlight, pistol, recorder, and cell phone before heading outside. Before I could get out the door, however, I heard a siren in the distance, which sounded as though it was getting closer. As I got out the door, I realized that the fire trucks were heading towards my place! The "semi" I'd heard was the fire department's tanker truck, which was soon followed by one of their other trucks (the siren I'd heard...)
When the fire dept. got out here, the fire was confined to just the NW corner of the living room of A (the main trailer); and, they had the flames put out relatively quickly. Unfortunately, they ran out of water before the could quench the hot spots... During the 30+ minutes it took to get more water out here, the flames reignited, broke through the west wall, and caught the nose of C trailer on fire. With no water, the fire just flat took off; and, before more water arrived, all 3 mobile homes were fully engulfed. From there, all they could really do was just keep the propane tank from blowing. They pretty well just let things "burn out."
I spent most of Wed., Thurs., and Fri. morning trying to quench hotspots myself, with a garden hose. After a couple of hours up there on Fri. morning, I HAD to come back down to the west end for a little while, to make a sandwich and get horizontal for a little while. The winds were forecast to pick up later that day; and, as badly as I was hurting, I figured "better now than later..." Besides, I was hurting SO badly that I was staggering around like a drunk; and, I'd already fallen several times that morning. I hadn't been gone all that long when my dogs started barking; and, thinking that someone was here, I stuck my head out the door to see who it was. When I did, I heard that unmistakable sound of fire!... I grabbed my cell phone; and, headed back out the door, headed for D trailer. Within feet, I could see the flames; so, I was trying to call 911 while trying to get up there as fast as I could without too many falls. I got the gate open for them; then, tried to get enough hose pieced together to at least keep the fire from spreading west towards "what little was left" and my friend Glen's trailer (who was flat on his back in bed, due to his back being out on him.) D trailer burned very quickly; since, it was in the worst shape of the 4; and, that's where I stored all of my combustibles. We were able to keep the fire from spreading west; but, with the winds having picked up, it got north of my fence and started taking off across the 80 acres to the north of me. They had one heck of a time getting the ensuing grass fire under control. It's ironic, though, that they DID manage to get enough water to do THAT; but, that they had waited until they ran out of water before getting more water to try to save A, B, and C; and, that they had considered it to be a waste of water to quench the hot spots, which could've prevented D from catching on fire on Friday morning... For a lack of enough water, about 80 to 85% of everything I owned was reduced to ashes; but, they could come up with enough water to make sure that it didn't spread any further north... (I wouldn't have wanted the 80 north of me to burn; but, it just feels like saving my place - which would've prevented the grass fire - just wasn't as high a priority as saving grazing land...)
Once again, this fire is EXTREMELY suspicious!!! There is absolutely NO logical reason for that fire to have started! Since I'd been staying on the west end for a couple of weeks, to be there for my friend, there were no heaters (electrical or propane) in use there. Because of the weather and my friend's back "being out" so badly that he couldn't even get out of bed without major assistance, I hadn't been up there for a while. The only power in use in that room was a 16 watt compact flourescent bulb. The only things on that circuit were that bulb, a similar bulb in the north bed room, and the router... The fire marshal's investigator couldn't find any chewed wiring; and, most of the wiring was up out of the reach of any rodents, anyway... She used the fact that there were electrical and propane heaters present (even though none were hooked up to anything!); and, "Wellll... I have seen a couple of cases of spontaneous combustion in my career...." (Yeah! Right! And, maybe a meteor hit it!.... {rolling my eyes}) to get out of ruling the fire an arson. Between what she said and what the investigator from the '06 fire said, I've pretty well "been told" that there are only 3 ways that one gets an arson ruling:
1) If there's a fatality and it's blatently obvious that arson's involved, they can't avoid it.
2) If a person has insurance and it's to the insurance company's benefit - as in if it looks like the fire was set to collect on insurance.
3) If a person is rich and has enough connections...
Anyone else "isn't worth their limited resources...."
I really can't be certain of "the suspect list" on this one, though; since, I'd also been VERY vocal about how absurd the flu scare was; and, how easy it was to knock out the flu within just a matter of minutes. with MMS. "Just the night before, I was venting over the phone to a friend of mine about the sheeple who would rather die than to "commit heresy" by taking something that wasn't approved by mainstream "medicine." We both heard (and discussed at the time) the line being broken in on. Maybe it was related, maybe it wasn't; but, at least it gives me enough "room for doubt" to make it easier for me to not lower myself to the level of retaliating against "potentially innocent people." (The neighbors to the SE of me and the fellow I mentioned above.)
Here's what the east end of my property now looks like:
When the fire dept. got out here, the fire was confined to just the NW corner of the living room of A (the main trailer); and, they had the flames put out relatively quickly. Unfortunately, they ran out of water before the could quench the hot spots... During the 30+ minutes it took to get more water out here, the flames reignited, broke through the west wall, and caught the nose of C trailer on fire. With no water, the fire just flat took off; and, before more water arrived, all 3 mobile homes were fully engulfed. From there, all they could really do was just keep the propane tank from blowing. They pretty well just let things "burn out."
I spent most of Wed., Thurs., and Fri. morning trying to quench hotspots myself, with a garden hose. After a couple of hours up there on Fri. morning, I HAD to come back down to the west end for a little while, to make a sandwich and get horizontal for a little while. The winds were forecast to pick up later that day; and, as badly as I was hurting, I figured "better now than later..." Besides, I was hurting SO badly that I was staggering around like a drunk; and, I'd already fallen several times that morning. I hadn't been gone all that long when my dogs started barking; and, thinking that someone was here, I stuck my head out the door to see who it was. When I did, I heard that unmistakable sound of fire!... I grabbed my cell phone; and, headed back out the door, headed for D trailer. Within feet, I could see the flames; so, I was trying to call 911 while trying to get up there as fast as I could without too many falls. I got the gate open for them; then, tried to get enough hose pieced together to at least keep the fire from spreading west towards "what little was left" and my friend Glen's trailer (who was flat on his back in bed, due to his back being out on him.) D trailer burned very quickly; since, it was in the worst shape of the 4; and, that's where I stored all of my combustibles. We were able to keep the fire from spreading west; but, with the winds having picked up, it got north of my fence and started taking off across the 80 acres to the north of me. They had one heck of a time getting the ensuing grass fire under control. It's ironic, though, that they DID manage to get enough water to do THAT; but, that they had waited until they ran out of water before getting more water to try to save A, B, and C; and, that they had considered it to be a waste of water to quench the hot spots, which could've prevented D from catching on fire on Friday morning... For a lack of enough water, about 80 to 85% of everything I owned was reduced to ashes; but, they could come up with enough water to make sure that it didn't spread any further north... (I wouldn't have wanted the 80 north of me to burn; but, it just feels like saving my place - which would've prevented the grass fire - just wasn't as high a priority as saving grazing land...)
Once again, this fire is EXTREMELY suspicious!!! There is absolutely NO logical reason for that fire to have started! Since I'd been staying on the west end for a couple of weeks, to be there for my friend, there were no heaters (electrical or propane) in use there. Because of the weather and my friend's back "being out" so badly that he couldn't even get out of bed without major assistance, I hadn't been up there for a while. The only power in use in that room was a 16 watt compact flourescent bulb. The only things on that circuit were that bulb, a similar bulb in the north bed room, and the router... The fire marshal's investigator couldn't find any chewed wiring; and, most of the wiring was up out of the reach of any rodents, anyway... She used the fact that there were electrical and propane heaters present (even though none were hooked up to anything!); and, "Wellll... I have seen a couple of cases of spontaneous combustion in my career...." (Yeah! Right! And, maybe a meteor hit it!.... {rolling my eyes}) to get out of ruling the fire an arson. Between what she said and what the investigator from the '06 fire said, I've pretty well "been told" that there are only 3 ways that one gets an arson ruling:
1) If there's a fatality and it's blatently obvious that arson's involved, they can't avoid it.
2) If a person has insurance and it's to the insurance company's benefit - as in if it looks like the fire was set to collect on insurance.
3) If a person is rich and has enough connections...
Anyone else "isn't worth their limited resources...."
I really can't be certain of "the suspect list" on this one, though; since, I'd also been VERY vocal about how absurd the flu scare was; and, how easy it was to knock out the flu within just a matter of minutes. with MMS. "Just the night before, I was venting over the phone to a friend of mine about the sheeple who would rather die than to "commit heresy" by taking something that wasn't approved by mainstream "medicine." We both heard (and discussed at the time) the line being broken in on. Maybe it was related, maybe it wasn't; but, at least it gives me enough "room for doubt" to make it easier for me to not lower myself to the level of retaliating against "potentially innocent people." (The neighbors to the SE of me and the fellow I mentioned above.)
Here's what the east end of my property now looks like:
I might post more pics later; but, for now, I've gone through the pics I've taken more than what I can deal with... :(
I've never been good at asking for help; but, right now, I don't have much of a choice; so, I'll post a "wish list" here; and, just see what happens:
I realize that it might SOUND like I'm hoping that everything I need will just miraculously show up; but, I'm just listing what I'll probably need; and, will feel blessed if even a few of the things that I need do show up...
1) What I need first and foremost is help salvaging what I can and clearing enough area to get to my septic line, cap off the burnt water lines (so I can set up one good line and turn the water back on up there), and build a 16'x16' building, with kitchen facilities on one side of a wall and bathroom/laundry room on the other. I'm doing what I can; but, I'm having trouble dealing with it, both physically and emotionally. Also, I'm going to need access to a cutting torch, to be able to cut away enough of the framing; plus, some way to move those sections to another area.
2) Next, I'm going to be needing building materials and/or Lowe's cards. As best as I can calculate "off the cuff," it's going to take about 50 sheets of OSB (a lot of these can be damaged on the ends or corners; since, the side walls will be 6' tall; and, much of the rest can be pieced together); and, about 200(+) 2x4's, 2x6's, etc. I'll probably have to get at least 2 loads of "wash out" from the local Dolese plant, to form the "base" for it; so, it won't rot away within a very short period of time. It might be simpler to just drop an old semi-trailer there; and, convert it; but, that would take an almost impossible amount of rubble clearing, given the fact that I'm living "about 2 steps up from in a tent" in the meantime. The annex works as "a bedroom;" but, was never intended to be lived in without access to other facilities...
3) Once the building is up, I'm going to have to come up with the following:
A) A toilet, preferably with a 5 gallon tank. [I now have a toilet, for when I have a place to install it...)
B) A bathtub. [I now have a usable bath tub. :)]
C) A washing machine and a drier.
D) A water heater. (I can get an on-demand off of ebay cheaper than even a cheap regular one at Lowes.)
E) Plumbing supplies. (I had a couple of sinks laying around, that were far enough away from where they belonged that the fires didn't get them; but, everything else was in D trailer...)
F) Wiring and other electrical-type stuff.
G) Cabinets
H) Shelving
I) Paint
J) Maybe a couple of windows.
K) Maybe a plaque or blue flame propane heater. (I can't afford to feed the old style ones.)
L) Maybe a small A/C.
M) Maybe some sheetrock.
N) Maybe some insulation. [I've found someone who blows foam insulation; and, has to pay the landfill to discard the shavings; so, he's willing to let me pick them up, when he has them. :) Insulation is now "covered."]
O) Kitchen stuff, including a propane camp stove, a toaster oven, etc.
P) Probably a lot of other stuff that I'm just not thinking of at the moment...
Q) Lowe's cards, of any amount, are always VERY welcome.
R) An old, beat-up truck that runs reliably. It needs to be at least 17 years old, for me to be able to afford to keep it tagged; but, preferably an '88 or older, with a standard transmission, to make it possible for me to work on it myself, as needed. I don't care what brand it is or what it looks like, inside or out. Rather than being redundant, I'll just note that the reasons and uses are included in the text at the top of this page, in case anyone missed it up there.
None of this has to be new. Items left over from garage sales, found on the curb, etc. are fine, as long as they work. (Or, can be made to work...) Right now, my truck is in the shop with a rod knock; so, I have no way to haul anything that won't fit in/on my Honda Civic until I'm able to get my truck back; but, I can be reached at either 4053822821 or 4055957183. If anyone can afford cash donations (and knows me well enough to know that I wouldn't misuse them), I can make them stretch a LONG way, by getting stuff from garage sales, pawn shops, etc... My paypal address is my fedup at rsib dot net address. (There's now a direct link button.) For things such as Lowe's cards, Home Depot cards, etc.: my mailing address is: Kathy Renbarger, PO Box 483, Seminole, OK, 74818. Also, with things being so tight with my trying to do what I can on my own, any help with dog food that anyone would like to provide would be greatly appreciated. I typically get 3 bags of 21/8 "value pack" at S&S Feed in Shawnee; and, 3 bags of Old Roy at Walmart each month, to keep "the pack" fed. If anyone would like to help with propane, my account is with Steve's Propane, in Shawnee. Their phone number is 4052733366; and, they take credit card payments over the phone. (I'm down to under 10%; but, fortunately, I have a "wet line;" so, they'll fill it without requiring an inspection. With trying to recover from the fire and getting a functional "roof over my head" ("the micro"), I simply haven't had anything left over to be able to put anything back for the upcoming winter. :( Even though their minimum delivery is 100 gallons, I'm sure they'd be willing to take partial donations and just credit them to my account, to get me closer to being able to get up to enough for the 100 gallon delivery minimum.
2) Next, I'm going to be needing building materials and/or Lowe's cards. As best as I can calculate "off the cuff," it's going to take about 50 sheets of OSB (a lot of these can be damaged on the ends or corners; since, the side walls will be 6' tall; and, much of the rest can be pieced together); and, about 200(+) 2x4's, 2x6's, etc. I'll probably have to get at least 2 loads of "wash out" from the local Dolese plant, to form the "base" for it; so, it won't rot away within a very short period of time. It might be simpler to just drop an old semi-trailer there; and, convert it; but, that would take an almost impossible amount of rubble clearing, given the fact that I'm living "about 2 steps up from in a tent" in the meantime. The annex works as "a bedroom;" but, was never intended to be lived in without access to other facilities...
3) Once the building is up, I'm going to have to come up with the following:
A) A toilet, preferably with a 5 gallon tank. [I now have a toilet, for when I have a place to install it...)
B) A bathtub. [I now have a usable bath tub. :)]
C) A washing machine and a drier.
D) A water heater. (I can get an on-demand off of ebay cheaper than even a cheap regular one at Lowes.)
E) Plumbing supplies. (I had a couple of sinks laying around, that were far enough away from where they belonged that the fires didn't get them; but, everything else was in D trailer...)
F) Wiring and other electrical-type stuff.
G) Cabinets
H) Shelving
I) Paint
J) Maybe a couple of windows.
K) Maybe a plaque or blue flame propane heater. (I can't afford to feed the old style ones.)
L) Maybe a small A/C.
M) Maybe some sheetrock.
N) Maybe some insulation. [I've found someone who blows foam insulation; and, has to pay the landfill to discard the shavings; so, he's willing to let me pick them up, when he has them. :) Insulation is now "covered."]
O) Kitchen stuff, including a propane camp stove, a toaster oven, etc.
P) Probably a lot of other stuff that I'm just not thinking of at the moment...
Q) Lowe's cards, of any amount, are always VERY welcome.
R) An old, beat-up truck that runs reliably. It needs to be at least 17 years old, for me to be able to afford to keep it tagged; but, preferably an '88 or older, with a standard transmission, to make it possible for me to work on it myself, as needed. I don't care what brand it is or what it looks like, inside or out. Rather than being redundant, I'll just note that the reasons and uses are included in the text at the top of this page, in case anyone missed it up there.
None of this has to be new. Items left over from garage sales, found on the curb, etc. are fine, as long as they work. (Or, can be made to work...) Right now, my truck is in the shop with a rod knock; so, I have no way to haul anything that won't fit in/on my Honda Civic until I'm able to get my truck back; but, I can be reached at either 4053822821 or 4055957183. If anyone can afford cash donations (and knows me well enough to know that I wouldn't misuse them), I can make them stretch a LONG way, by getting stuff from garage sales, pawn shops, etc... My paypal address is my fedup at rsib dot net address. (There's now a direct link button.) For things such as Lowe's cards, Home Depot cards, etc.: my mailing address is: Kathy Renbarger, PO Box 483, Seminole, OK, 74818. Also, with things being so tight with my trying to do what I can on my own, any help with dog food that anyone would like to provide would be greatly appreciated. I typically get 3 bags of 21/8 "value pack" at S&S Feed in Shawnee; and, 3 bags of Old Roy at Walmart each month, to keep "the pack" fed. If anyone would like to help with propane, my account is with Steve's Propane, in Shawnee. Their phone number is 4052733366; and, they take credit card payments over the phone. (I'm down to under 10%; but, fortunately, I have a "wet line;" so, they'll fill it without requiring an inspection. With trying to recover from the fire and getting a functional "roof over my head" ("the micro"), I simply haven't had anything left over to be able to put anything back for the upcoming winter. :( Even though their minimum delivery is 100 gallons, I'm sure they'd be willing to take partial donations and just credit them to my account, to get me closer to being able to get up to enough for the 100 gallon delivery minimum.
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The pics posted below are a temporary posting, to add visuals to a conversation I'm having about the problem with getting the real bathroom started:
For those of you who haven't been out here, I'll insert the following explanation; so, what I described above will make more sense: When I moved out here, I couldn't afford even one decent mobile home, much less a house; so, "my house" consisted of 4 "back row" mobile homes. "A" was the primary mobile home; and, the best of the batch. It sat N/S, with "B" and "C" sitting E/W. They were laid out like a 2-legged T, with about 4 feet separating each trailer from the others. "B" was the next best; and, I had given it to my ex-husband back in '09; so, he'd know that he'd "always have a home." After his strokes, I'd been trying to fix it up for him and make it a lot more handicapped accessible for him; but, after I saw the damage that "medical idiots" and bureaucrats had done to him, I just couldn't keep my hopes up enough to be able to do more to it. I turned my attention to trying to find help fighting the bureaucrats who were, in my opinion, murdering him. "C" was the laundry room and storage, including all the photos and keepsakes from back when I was a kid; and, really, ever since then. "D" sat diagonally to "C, about 30 feet north;" and, was "my garage"/"go to trailer." On my income, I can't afford to hire anyone to do anything; and, I can't even run into town to buy stuff new when I need to fix something. What I did, instead, was watch garage sales for boxes or buckets of assorted repair stuff - plumbing, electrical, hardware, paint, etc. When I found them, I could generally pick them up for around $5; so, I'd buy them, take them to "D," and sort them out. When I needed something, I just about "had my own hardware store" in there; and, generally had what I needed (for pennies on the dollar of what it would cost me new...) "The annex" is a mobile home that I was given for hauling it off back in '08?/'09? I was originally going to scrap it out for the I-beams, to use them for the underground I've been wanting to build. Before I got around to doing that, I decided to try to fix it up as a replacement for "G trailer," which was arsoned in May of '06; but, before I could finish doing so, I wound up needing to sleep down there part time, to make sure that it didn't get torched, as well. (The folks who live in one of the two other homes on this drive are at the top of my "suspect list" for at least the '06 fire; and, are "on the list" for this fire, as well.) It was never intended to be lived in; and, it's impossible to heat or cool. It's also (way) down hill from the septic tank; and, too far from the power pole to even think about trying to hook up a water heater. I wound up having to stay down there full-time for a while after the fire; but, I wound up going through almost a full tank of propane in just a couple of months. (It's pretty well falling apart...)