Members of a Fort Bragg family who lost their belongings and most of their house in a July 2 fire are living in two hotel rooms with their five dogs — whom they credit with saving their lives.
Lorene Pearl, and her three disabled sons, Karl, Ken and Kevin, haven”t asked for any help so far, and they are the type who like to take care of themselves when possible. All three of the sons have elected to stay at work — Ken at Dirt Cheap, Karl at Rite Aide and Kevin at Paul Bunyan Thrift Store. All three employers have offered to help with time off, but the men all say they want to stay working.
A friend contacted the Red Cross, which came to the rescue with a credit account to replace items lost in the fire needed for daily living. The fire melted into oblivion two trailers at the home, including one that was Karl”s home, and devoured a chunk of the house that included Kevin”s bedroom and all his belongings.
Paul Bunyan Thrift Store, Kevin”s employer, helped get them new clothes. Their insurance company has paid to put them up at Oceanside Inn and Suites.
But finding a temporary home for their five sweet dogs, all of whom are vaccinated and spayed, has proven impossible. The family is ready to move into a house to be rented by the insurance company but needs some temporary dog sitters to make it through the next several months.
The three men and their mom are positive, upbeat people who always seek the good side of every situation and who love to spend time together, which is reflected in their stories about the devastating fire.
Karl says he was asleep in the trailer just after 1 a.m. when his dog Brandi started making sounds he describes as “talking.” As proud as he is of Brandi”s tricks, he was surprised to hear “yawwwr, errrr, rabbbr” from her in the middle of the night.
He finally opened his eyes to a terrifying sight, a flaming extension cord in his trailer. The smoke was quickly building up in the small space.
“It was bad. Brandi and I got out of there fast and called 911.”
But the drama doesn”t end there. Ken awoke to see the flames and went to hammer on his mother”s door. She thought it was the family cats, which leap on the door when hungry.
She hollered for them to go back to bed. But Ken pounded harder and shouted “structure fire,” and mom was up. She saw Karl”s trailer was a fireball.
Kevin, the soundest sleeper in the family, was still not roused.
“My dog, Sara, just kept licking and licking my face, and finally I got up,” he recalled.
Kevin”s room was also on fire.
The dogs turned from heroes to victims, running about confused in the flames. The powerful Ken picked up one of the large dogs in each hand and walked out the door. Lorene got her two dogs out, and Kevin carried out tiny Sara.
A Fort Bragg Police cruiser was just then pulling up, and Lorene made her way back into the house, which was then full of smoke. She located her two cats and only later thought about their belongings and the caged bird in the garage.
The Pearls would rather thank people than ask for help. They were impressed with the work of the emergency responders.
“They saved the house for sure,” Lorene said. “We are sure thankful for the quick work of the firefighters.”
The family arrived at Hospitality House in the middle of the night, where they quickly charmed residents.
Still smelling of smoke, the family was busy hugging each other and checking on the health of the dogs and telling the story of the event.
“They were really a blessing,” said one person who was at the house that night. “They had lost everything and were able to remain positive and be thankful that everyone was OK.”
On Monday, gathered in the hotel room, the family looked at floor plans and discussed how nice it would be to have a fresh new house.
But they desperately need dog-sitting for the next four to six months while the house is fixed and the insurance company rents them a house. They want to find a good family, or two or three, who will allow them to visit their beloved pals on occasion. The dogs are all friendly and housebroken.
All three brothers are consumers of services at The Job Connection, 350 Cypress St. Call 964-7542 to volunteer to help the family. Donations can also be made to the Red Cross in the name of the Pearls.
