Jason Stokely pawed through the cinders and fallen roof beams in the late morning sun Wednesday. He was wearing tennis shoes and a t-shirt and was wrapped in a blanket from the waist down.
“I was trying to find the keys to my girlfriend’s van,” he said. “We’ve got some clothes in there. I don’t even have any pants on.”
The fire that destroyed the house at 1324 Willis Ave. early today also destroyed a lot of Stokely’s belongings and completely upset his family’s life, but at least he escaped alive from the fire with his girlfriend, their 6-year-old son and his mother.
His father was working out of town.
“My dad’s working on the railroad,” he said. “He doesn’t even know this happened yet.”
Stokely said a smoldering cigarette in a wastebasket in his mother’s room was where the fire started. By the time he awoke and was aware, both upper-story rooms facing Willis Avenue were fully engulfed, he said.
He said the family’s two dogs and two cats are missing, and he fears the worst for them.
“We just moved here from Wisconsin in July,” he said. “We were hoping to start over and now this.”
He looked away.
“I couldn’t find the keys upstairs,” he said, staring at his blackened hands. “The roof caved in, and there’s nails everywhere.”
Stokely said his family is waiting for assistance from the American Red Cross. The Perry Ministerial Association provided the family with shelter overnight at the Super 8 Motel in Perry.
ThePerryNews.com will update this story as information becomes available.
That’s a very bad deal. Glad nobody got injured in the fire. At least everyone is safe. Valuable items can be replaced. Sorry for your loss.