Callisburg — Perhaps no one better understands the destruction and sense of loss associated with house fires than those who fight fires.

Callisburg resident and DFW International Airport firefighter David Carpenter has two weeks or so to come to terms with his own losses after the home he shares with his wife Kathy burned to the ground July 24.

Carpenter has been a firefighter for 23 years and is a captain with DFW station No. 1. He was on his way home from work when he spotted the blaze.

“I had just gotten off shift at 6:30 a.m.,” he said. “About a mile from my house, I saw a thin trail of smoke coming up through the trees and thought it was a grass fire...Then a sheriff’s deputy passed me going about 75 with his lights and sirens on and I thought this might be more than a grass fire.”

Carpenter said, at first, it was difficult to pinpoint the fire’s location.

“The way the road twists and turns it was kind of hard to distinguish where it was, ” he said. “The thin trail of smoke had turned into a big black cloud of smoke, and I knew it was a house fire and I realized it was my house.”

His wife called before he reached the burning structure.

“She calls me every morning on my way home from work,” he said. “I hadn’t heard from her that morning and I thought it was kind of strange. Then the phone rang and my wife said, “Honey, our house is burning. Everybody got out.’ I told her, ‘I know.’ ”

Carpenter said despite the loss, his wife’s words were a comfort.

“As I hit that last straight-away and saw it was my house, I knew if anyone was still inside there was no hope for them,” he said.

He found out later a neighbor spotted the fire on the front porch and banged on the couple’s door alerting Kathy Carpenter and the couple’s daughter and two grandchildren. The family who escaped just in time.

The neighbor who helped save Carpenter’s loved ones also attempted to put the fire out with a garden hose but the flames — fueled by dry wood and sustained by summer heat — raced through the structure.

“It took about 7 to 8 minutes to fully involve the house,” he said. “By the time my neighbor got out and got the people out it was too far gone to stop it.”

Carpenter said his first order of business was to let firefighters know everyone had escaped the blaze. His second was to release his dogs — Champ and Gerty — from an outdoor pen near the burning building.

The terrified dogs didn’t stick around.

“I let them out and they ran off and shot across the pasture and didn’t come back ‘til that night,” he said.

Few things were salvaged from the embers, Carpenter noted.

“We saved a solid cherry watch box my wife got me for my birthday last year,” he said. “The fire department was putting out spot fires and I saw my watch box and they grabbed it. I opened it and all my watches were inside, still working.”

His grandson found a prized baseball bat in the wreckage.

Kathy Carpenter retrieved her purse.

“It was hanging on a hook in the closet and when the clothes rod fell it covered the purse and protected it,” Carpenter said. “She got her wallet and ID. It was a small victory.”

Small victories aside, Carpenter said the fire brought out the best in his neighbors even as the building smoldered.

“We have been so blessed in so many ways, touched by the people that have come to our aid, not just from Callisburg and Gainesville and Oak Ridge,” he said. “People starting helping before the fire was even out.”

A passerby saw Carpenter’s grandchildren standing outside the burned out home, went to a store, purchased new clothes for the kids and dropped off the clothing later that day.

A representative from Callisburg Church of Christ stopped to hand Carpenter a $1,000 check.

Countless other agencies and individuals have helped the family including firefighters from Carpenter’s department who went into action as soon as they heard about the fire.

“My entire fire crew had just gotten off shift,” he said. “They drove up to my house to stand there with me as I watched my house burn. They stood there with me to support me.”

Carpenter said watching flames consume his home gave him a new respect for disaster survivors.

“For 23 years, I’ve seen people that have been affected by things and it always affects you but you always think to yourself on some level it will never happen to me,” he said. “ I’ve told my guys at work it makes you feel you not only have nothing...but it makes you feel that you are nothing because everything you worked to accomplish is gone. The blessings come in where people who love and care about you are there to let you know that you aren’t nothing, you mean something to them. Everybody talks about firefighters being heroes. I do it every day for a living, but to me the people that have stepped up and done (this) for us are more heroes than I am. ”

Carpenter also said he has renewed respect for the men and women of Cooke County’s volunteer fire departments.

“Those poor guys that fought that house fire, I knew and they knew they weren’t gonna be able to stop it,” he said. “But they were there anyway. I understand what it’s like to stand there with all of that bunker gear fighting those fires.”

Carpenter said he hopes residents realize the personal sacrifice and effort local volunteers give their fire departments.

Assistance for the departments — especially financial help — is appropriate, he said.

“They need everything that everyone can possibly give them,” he said. “They don’t have the funding. They don’t have the equipment they really need and they still do their job anyway.”

Oak Ridge Volunteer Fire Department firefighter, EMT and spokesperson Carla Rickert agrees. She said a recent spate of fires including the blaze which claimed the Carpenter’s home are reminders how vital county volunteer fire departments are.

“These departments are in dire need of volunteers and much-needed community support,” she said.

Rickert pointed out that Cooke County Commissioner’s Court allocates a stipend for local VFDs but noted the funding isn’t enough to keep the departments afloat each year.

County stipends are usually sufficient to pay for each department’s insurance, she said.

“The stipend is much-appreciated, but it’s true that most of it does go for insurance which does not leave a lot of budget,” she said.

Local volunteer fire departments have a number of other expenses.

“There are a range of other items that you may not even think of,” she said. Rickert’s list of department essentials includes fuel, bunker gear, training, communication devices, firefighting equipment such as axes, picks, ladders, poles, hoses, basic tools for vehicle and equipment repairs and rehabilitation supplies including drinking water.

EMS volunteers must also have medical supplies on hand.

“I think it’s important to remember that volunteers are usually the first on scene to assist until EMS arrives with advanced life support.

“As you can see, there are a lot of items that go into running a volunteer fire department,” she said. “So yes, we ask for donations. We ask you for raffle items. We invite you to fundraisers. We ask for your support but there is good reason. When those pagers go off, day or night, we want to be there to help. It's in our head, in our blood, but our community is in our hearts.”