Ronni Peterson, whose home near Admiral Way was destroyed by fire on Dec. 9 has found a home. " I got the best news today," she told the Herald, " a lady named Lisa Davidson has a house on Admiral but she lives in Wyoming. She is going to let me stay there through the holidays." Beyond that other arrangements might be worked out. "She said, 'I want you and your kids to have a place to feel like it's a home and have a Christmas tree up and not going from relative to relative, sleeping on the couches.'," Peterson said. She expects to be staying there, possibly as early as Dec. 15.

The accounts set up to take donations for the family have gotten a little more than $500 but some have said they cannot find the link by searching on PayPal. The link to donate to the Peterson Family is at the bottom of this story.
"It's a good start," Peterson said an expressed her gratitude to everyone who has come forward to help her family get back on their feet.

"Things are looking up. I'm overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from people and not just people I know, but total strangers," Peterson said, "It's changed my life. It really has."

Peterson awoke a little after 3:00 a.m. Thursday Dec. 9 to the sound of something popping. She thought at first it was someone breaking in and grabbed her cell phone and punched in 9-1-1 ready to hit send. She bent to listen at the bedroom door and the sounds continued.

Then she opened the door. A massive cloud of hot gas and smoke swept into the room overwhelming her. "I was hysterical, and I immediately hit the send button. I believe I was screaming on the phone to the 9-1-1 operator," Peterson told the Herald.

She has been renting the home just off Admiral Way on 49th s.w. and thought she would not be able to get out of the windows. One opens only on the top. Another opens at the bottom but is over a basement stairwell with a 15- foot drop. Her dog, Louie, was with her and she managed to get him out the window, but, in total darkness he fell to the bottom of the cement stairwell. "I thought he was dead," she said. Luckily some old carpet was there and cushioned his fall. He was uninjured. Peterson clambered out the window just barely able to get footing on the ledge of the stairwell since a large shrub blocked the way, almost falling herself but finally reaching safety outside.

She ran next door to the home of, Karen and Jim Kinch and pounded on the door. They were fast asleep and did not respond. Then the fire trucks arrived. "It seemed like it was less than a minute," for them to get there Peterson said and they went after the fire, breaking down the front door and spraying water.

But the fire was by then so far along that they could only preserve the structure, later calling it a "small fire." It wasn't small to Peterson. Nearly everything she owned was destroyed.

Peterson has two children a daughter, 15 and a son 13 who were luckily staying with their father that night.

What caused the fire? She had built a fire that night and had a fireplace screen, "but it's kind of an old one and the wire is kind of bent." Peterson said, she thinks it was sparks from the fireplace.

Karen as a renter had no renter's insurance and essentially lost her television, furniture, electronics all melted or consumed by the flames. "It was ironic what didn't burn," she said, " I found bag of marshmallows, completely untouched amid the rubble."

She has been staying at her brother's house for now. "He has a wife and two kids so it's kind of a cramped area and I can't stay there for long. My son this weekend is at my Mom's and my daughter is with me. I have no idea what to do. I have nowhere to go. I don't have any money to do anything."

While she has a job her resources at this point are meager.

Her neighbor's the Kinches are setting up a bank account at Wells Fargo in the Admiral Junction on Monday, a PayPal account and a Facebook page as soon as possible to help people donate to Peterson's aid. We will update this story when those links become active.

All her possessions, and most of what was in the house are, "gone, just gone," she said.

She is seeking somewhere to live, and can be contacted at ronnip66@gmail.com She would appreciate anyone with information about a 3 bedroom home in the area getting in touch.

If you'd like to help her a bank account has been set up called the Ronni Peterson Fire Relief Fund and you can donate any amount at any branch of Wells Fargo Bank. You can also donate directly online, again, any amount would help, via PayPal here.