Neighbors Help Out Fire Victims ‘When Something Like This Happens, You Really Know Who Your Friends Are’

When the smoke cleared, the only things Kurt and Barb DeHart salvaged from their burned home were a few pieces of firescarred pottery.

Clothing, food, furniture - everything was destroyed in the March 14 fire, started by a clothes dryer.

But as the ashes cooled, the phone lines in Rose Lake began to heat up.

Neighbors and members of the local Mennonite and Cataldo Lighthouse churches rounded up donations. Sheets, silverware, canned goods, blankets and appliances arrived at the family’s rented home.

“When you lose everything, you’ve got nothing,” said Steve Mullen, owner of the Rose Lake General Store. “We just called a few friends that had kids the same size as theirs to donate some stuff.”

“We’ve got quite a few good people here,” said his wife, Jody Mullen. “Your neighbors come together really quick or you’re lost.”

On Saturday, Watson’s Rose Lake Resort hosted a chili cook-off for the family. Friends brought towels, utensils, sympathy cards and cash.

“I thought it might help out a little,” said Roma Wuolle, manager of the resort. When her husband had medical problems last October, she said, area residents held a similar benefit.

“It really helped out,” she said. “It’s just a good neighborhood to live in.”

Barb DeHart had lived at the large lakeside home since her parents moved there more than two decades ago. Kurt DeHart is a mining contractor.

“We’ve had a lot of support. I was really shocked,” she said. “It’s a small community, and people just help each other out.”

The family now is living in a home about a quarter of a mile from the ruins of the old home.

Barb DeHart said they plan to begin rebuilding when the fire insurance check arrives.

“When something like this happens, you really know who your friends are,” she said.