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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2015)
PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, JULY 17, 2015 Debbie Wilson looks over the destruction that leveled her house on June 20, her 56th birthday. KEIZERTIMES/ Craig Murphy FIRE, continued from Page A1 KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy A fi re on June 20 destroyed the 115-year-old home of Randy and Debbie Wilson. That day was Debbie’s 56th birthday. The couple made it out without injury, but the fi re destroyed everything including a large assortment of tools and weapons Randy had collected over the years as well as ones he inherited from both his father and grandfather. “The one thing I’m grate- ful for is it could have been worse. It could have been much worse. If I hadn’t got- ten her out…” Randy said, choking back tears. “No one got hurt.” At the time, Debbie was worried about Randy, espe- cially since he had to keep getting the dog out of the burning house. “In the moment, you don’t think about material things. Then after you do,” Debbie said, noting she hasn’t found her engagement or wedding rings – and doesn’t expect to. “I’m just grateful we weren’t hurt. The smoke was com- ing so fast, it was just a black wall. There was just no time to think.” The Wilsons have set up tarps and pulled out charred items, including a sword used in the battle of Gettysburg and a Native American blanket that was more than 300 years old. Sometimes the reality hits hard. “You do a task and you go to get the item,” Debbie said. “Then you realize it burned up. It’s unreal. One moment I’m fi ne, the next moment I’m a wreck.” Friends and neighbors have been helping out, in particu- lar longtime family friend Charles ‘Bob’ Rictor as well as next door neighbors Juan and Josie Benavidez, who let the Wilsons put a camper up in their yard. Randy, 54, wants others to learn from their misfortune. “Don’t store fuel in your machines. If you have bad wiring, be aware of it and fi x it,” said Randy, who believes faulty wiring near the washer and dryer started the blaze. “I don’t want anyone else to go through this. And make sure you insure what you’ve got. We had no insurance. I didn’t realize how cheap insurance would have been.” Randy, a former certifi ed butcher and artist, doesn’t know what to do next. “We’re screwed, just screwed,” he said. “I’ve never asked for help my entire life. For the fi rst time in my life, I’d accept it.” Even three weeks after the blaze, Randy still was in shock as he looked over the rem- nants. “It was heaven; it’s hell now,” he said of the home. “We’re doing great one mo- ment, then we’re on fi re. Just be safe. You can have your par- adise and your slice of heaven one day, then it can go to hell real quick. I don’t want no- body else to go through this. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.” puzzle answers KEIZERTIMES fi le photo KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy Randy Wilson shows off one of his large ...and Randy Wilson with the same sword swords in a picture that ran on the front page this week, after most of his possessions were burned in a recent fi re. of the Keizertimes in March 2007...