Fire destroys Baker's home

BONNERS FERRY — A Dec. 11 fire left one local family homeless, but community members are pulling together to help out the family in time for Christmas.

No one was home the night of Dec. 11 when the Baker family’s house off Deep Creek Loop burned to the ground.

The house was already burning by the time firefighters were called, and equipment was unable to reach the blaze due to the muddy roads and the remoteness of the property.

South Boundary Fire Department was training when the call came in, and Paradise Valley showed up for mutual aid.

“We probably had close to 20 firefighters on scene,” says Chief Tony Rohrwasser of Paradise Valley Fire Department. Muddy roads from unseasonably warm weather forced the first firefighters to arrive, including Assistant Chief Wayne Wilkerson to hike the last stretch of road into the property. By the time they reached the house, there was little left standing, Rohrwasser said.

“Our 4WD engine with chains could have reached it, and was on scene there, but with nothing left to protect the possibility of getting it stuck was not worth it,” Rohrwasser said.

The Baker family says a propane refrigerator may have been the source of the fire. Mike Baker built the off-grid house by hand, sourcing local materials in an ongoing project that he paid for by working in the Dakota oil fields. The family was in denial when neighbors first informed them that the house was burning.

“At first we were totally lost. We may have had 50 cents to our names,” Mike says. “We didn’t know why God would allow our home that He gave to us to burn to the ground.”

Since coming to grips with their new reality, the family has accepted their loss as a blessing in disguise.

“I’ve come to learn that it was a wake-up call for me and my faith,” Mike says. “Things we held so dear mean so little now. Pictures, jewelry, TV and remote, guns and ammo, a supply of food, cigarettes and my booze - I haven’t smoked or drank since the incident,” he says.

“None of these promote God or Christ in my life. All we lost was God’s to burn anyway. He has truly shown me whether we lose it in life or in death, all that matters is He who made us, He who saved us, and the state of our hearts, minds and spirit.”

Mike thanks God and all those that have graced their family in this time of growth.

The outpouring of community support has been incredible, the Bakers say. When Mike, Stephanie and their three children, ages 10-14 checked into the Kootenai Valley Motel, they had the change in their pockets and the clothes on their backs.

Red Cross and Community Thrift helped pay for the room, which the motel has given them at reduced rate. Neighbors and friends started contacting local organizations, and the family has received a large pile of donated clothing (some better fitting than others; Mike is more than 6 feet tall).

They also were given a gift certificate to Larson’s from the Hope House for shoes, and Larson’s added socks and underwear for the family at no cost.

Employees at Subway used money from the tip jar to buy them sandwiches, and Stephanie Baker was able to get much-needed insulin, since her supply was burned in the fire. Their first day at the motel, someone dropped off gifts for the family with a note that read, “On the first day of Christmas, your true friends left for you, activities to do at the motel.” The next day and every day since, another gift, and another note have been left on the doorstep.

“We got laundry baskets one day,” Stephanie says. “We had so many clothes, but nowhere to put them. You don’t realize how much you need things like a laundry basket until you don’t have them.”

The family is hoping to be able to move into a rental house close to Mountain Springs Church, where they attend services, by Tuesday. In preparation, the family needs household items — twin beds for the kids, dressers, kitchen items and appliances like brooms, dustpans and cleaning supplies.

In order to help the family out, in-kind and monetary donations are being accepted at the South Boundary Fire Station 1.

Stop by or call Rohrwasser at 290-2613 for sizes requested, and to ensure that someone will be at the fire station to accept the donation. A GoFundMe site has also been set up at www.gofundme.com/irm104 by a friend of the family, and donations are also being accepted on behalf of the family at Wells Fargo Bank.

“We don’t know all the names of everyone that has helped,” Stephanie Baker said.

“We haven’t had a moment’s peace since it happened, but we want to thank our neighbors Candi and Brian Bartrop and their family, Twyla Wall, Micha Tifft and Lisa DeHeer, Donna Thompson, the Red Cross, all the thrift stores of Bonners Ferry, Hope House, Safeway and Super 1, Larson’s, Community Action Partnership for blankets, South Boundary Fire Station and everyone from the community who has helped us. Thanks so much for all the help and prayers.”