Published: July 30, 2008 11:31 am         

House fire prompts community response

A victim of a recent house fire has a simple message for renters:

“Get renters insurance,” said Deena Pressley, a resident of South Weaver Street until July 22, when what appeared to be a small fire from the street ruined nearly all of her and her fiancee’s possessions.

The fire happened shortly after noon that day, prompting a road closure of that street, as the smell of smoke permeated the downtown area.

Pressley, a former advertising sales representative for the Register, had just returned from several months of taking care of her terminally ill mother in Lufkin, whom she said has cancer. Returning to Gainesville and searching for a new job, Pressley said she has been staying up late and sleeping late in a house she and her fiancee, Roger Littrell, were renting. She was also tired from her trip back from Lufkin, and planned to sleep through the morning.

“I would have been asleep, if it weren’t for some people coming over in the morning,” Pressley said.

She said morning visitors are rare for her, but that day her landlord and her daughter-in-law visited the home. Already awake, Pressley decided to do some work on her personal computer.

She said didn’t notice the smoke gradually filling her home as she was on the Internet.

“I didn’t smell anything — nothing,” she said. “But then I looked up, and the ceiling was billowing.”

She described the scene as one from the science-fiction movie “Independence Day,” shortly after one of the alien motherships emerged from the clouds.

There was so much smoke from the ceiling to the flood that Pressley couldn’t breathe, so she walked near the door, wondering where her dog, Sable, was.

“A young man next door shouted to me, ‘Lady, you’ve got to get out of the house! It’s going to explode,’” Pressley said. “But I said, ‘I’ve got to get my dog!’”

Pressley said she was held back by the young man who admonished her not to go back inside. But another man jumped the fence and brought her the dog.

Sable, a ShitzThu breed, survived the ordeal. But Pressley had to sell her to a breeder friend, Jackie Werks, to afford a deposit on a new apartment downtown.

“Now Sable gets to live with her boyfriend — in sin,” Pressley said, with a laugh, as Sable was to be bred with a male ShitzThu owned by Werks.

The dog wasn’t the only loss. Littrell lost a garage full of memorabilia from his childhood and family heirlooms from his deceased parents’ house.

Clothes were ruined, appliances rendered inoperable, and Pressley said she isn’t sure if her computer is back up to speed.

“Of course, we lost about everything,” she said.

According to a Gainesville Fire Department response log, the fire began in the garage in an air conditioning unit added to the house, and spread through the garage and attic.

Pressley said she managed so salvage a few items of clothing, as one bedroom had little damage.

Pressley thanked the fire department and Cooke County EMS for their response to the fire. But she also had some other people to thank.

Crickett Lemond, she said, provided some appliances and other items to replace what was lost.

She said WinStar Casinos placed she and her fiancee in a hotel for three nights, and the Red Cross also put them in a hotel for three nights and provided them a $300 stipend.

The Salvation Army and Helping Hands of Faith provided some clothing, linens and other items. VISTO provided some food, she said.

All she has is $1.92 left. But she doesn’t have her hand out — all she needs now is a job.

She said she should have purchased renter’s insurance, which could have made up for much of the damage.

She said a $30,000 coverage can be purchased for $15 per month in some instances.

“It humbled me, especially since I’m always the one who gets things started with helping people,” she said. “My advice is don’t get yourself into a position where you’ll have to beg someday. Be prepared for these things ... It can happen to anyone.”