Coping with their losses

PULLMAN — Josh Lee can see his desk and pencil case from outside his bedroom window, but he will never be able to recover his belongings after a human-caused fire Sunday afternoon destroyed his house on Maple Street.

Lee said he was returning from work when he was bombarded with phone calls and messages. Then he saw fire trucks racing in the direction of his home, and he knew something was wrong.

“When I came down, the house was already bursting into flames,” he said.

First responders were called in around 1 p.m., said Tony Nuttman, deputy fire marshall for the Pullman Fire Department. The fire was an accident caused by people, Nuttman said. Further details are expected to be released around noon today.

Two people were in the house when the fire started, but they were visiting from Colorado and neither of them lived there, Nuttman said. Four people lived in the house.

Lee, a 22-year-old senior at Washington State University majoring in finance and management information systems, said he experienced the four stages of grief within the span of two hours while watching his house burn.

“At one point, I was just freaking out, just crying,” he said. “And at one point I just started laughing.”

But he quickly went into problem-solving mode, making phone calls to his family and a house leasing company. He said he had no idea what he was supposed to do, because his parents live in Korea and his sister is in San Diego.

Lee stayed at a friend’s house Sunday night but was able to find housing Monday, although the apartment is completely unfurnished.

The house was completely destroyed, and city of Pullman building inspectors declared it unlivable, Nuttman said.

Lee lost all of his belongings in the fire, including his computer, cameras, clothes, bike and books. He also lost valuables he will never be able to replace, like high school yearbooks, an old clarinet he’s played since fifth grade and his mother’s ring.

“Little, little things that are such an inconvenience not to have now after having it throughout,” he said. “It’s kind of life changing.”

He contacted the Community Action Center and American Red Cross for help, and his best friend, Mason Mahoney, created a GoFundMe page, at gofundme.com/f/znwvt7-joshs-house-fire-relief.

Lee’s three roommates, who are all WSU students, also have a GoFundMe page, at gofundme.com/f/z6kktj-fire-engulfs-lodge-help-for-displaced-cougs.

Lee said he has felt very loved these past few days and is grateful for people who have offered financial and moral support. But when he thought his luck could not get worse, he was dealt another blow after waking up Monday morning to find his back left tire slashed.

“That was the absolutely last straw for me,” he said. “That one really hurt after everything that happened.”

Despite it all, Lee said he hopes the experiences will help him grow into a better and stronger man.

“I can’t feel bad for myself,” he said. “I just have to take it step by step.”

Embers from the fire spread and ignited another house, on Howard Street. Fire Marshall Chris Wehrung led the first response team for that fire.

Six WSU juniors, all Kappa Delta sorority members, lived in the house on Howard Street. They were all in the house when their roof caught fire, but none of them were injured.

“I know a lot of students in the Greek community specifically are pretty torn up about this because these are our friends, our peers, our sisters,” said Mackenzie Freeman, president of WSU’s Kappa Delta chapter and a junior elementary education major.

The six students found housing together, Freeman said. She did not live in the house but has been helping the other students.

She said they were able to recover some of the students’ belongings from the house, but the damage caused by the smoke and fire remained.

“We were hosing off their stuff that was salvageable, wiping off all their makeup and anything that we could do,” Freeman said.

She said the students have received an outpouring of support from the local Greek community as well as the national Kappa Delta headquarters.

“It’s always special, actually, to see how the women have come together in our chapter,” she said. “We’re doing our best to make it easier on them.”

A GoFundMe page started for the Kappa Delta students can be accessed at gofundme.com/f/kd-live-out-fire.

Nuttman said the house on Howard Street also was declared unlivable by the city building inspectors because of the water and smoke damage it received.

Two firefighters were injured during the fires, he said. One cut his finger at Maple Street, and another firefighter twisted his ankle while on Howard Street. Nuttman said he does not know their current condition, but neither were hospitalized.

Carral may be contacted at jcarral@lmtribune.com or on Twitter at @jaycecarral.