Jon Ann Patton's son-in-law ran into her house to warn her that she had to leave because a fire was coming; but Patton refused to leave till she saw it for herself. "It was just amazing how fast the flames came up, the wall of fire was taller than the trees," Patton said as she described the scene just moments before her house caught on fire. Patton had just enough time to grab important legal documents and her dog before she was forced to flee to a nearby relatives house.
Patton's daughter's house is right behind hers, and family members worked with the volunteer fire department to save the house. The home was saved, for which Patton is grateful, because it was this house in which Patton raised her 8 children.
Despite losing all her belongings, Patton praises the volunteers that worked so hard to save the other homes in the fires path. "When the fire got on the roof of my daughters home, a firefighter said, 'don't worry- you won't loose your home, we won't let you loose it' and they were just so wonderful. Thank you, all of you for your hard work."
Pointing to the soot covering the ground Patton acknowledges the importance of todays date, "It's Ash Wednesday and we've got plenty of ashes, and so I think we need to thank whose in charge, because there's a purpose behind all this."
A fund has been set up to help Jon Ann, you can donate to her at any of the local Teacher's Federal Credit Unions.
