Left Homeless, Tum Tum Fire Victims Targeted By Looters People Digging Through Ruins Of Two Burned Mobile Homes

Things were bad enough for Beulah Olsen and her son, Don Marshall.

Three weeks ago, they were forced to flee as wildfire destroyed their mobile homes five miles west of Tum Tum. They escaped with the most minimal of belongings: Olsen saved her 11-year-old cat, Squeaky. Marshall had nothing else but the urn containing his wife’s ashes.

Now, it’s worse.

People have started looting Olsen and Marshall’s belongings.

“I was doggone mad,” said Marshall, 66. “That’s pretty low to steal from someone whose house has been devastated by the fire.

“We’re getting to the point where we’re hating the people stealing the stuff more than the guy who started the fire.”

People have dug through the ruins of the two mobile homes, located 30 feet from each other on a wooded, 10-acre lot.

In the past week, looters have taken two snowplows and an antique woodstove, Marshall said. The items are valued at about $1,850.

“I’m still at a loss,” said the 83-year-old Olsen, who moved into her mobile home two years ago. “I’m angry and upset. I break down every time I talk about it.”

The two don’t have fire insurance and are staying with relatives in Spokane. For the last three weekends since the fire, mother and son have returned to Tum Tum to clean up the debris around the remains of their home.

Marshall’s only consolation right now is finding three of his five cats, he said.

Mama Cat, a 4-year-old gray Tabby, crawled out from under a blackened ‘74 Chevy pickup. Her whiskers and bits of fur were burnt. She also suffered burns on the pads of her paws. One-year-old Fluffy and Ornery showed up that same day. The two were unharmed. Still missing are Charlie, a cross-eyed Siamese, and a small black-and-white cat named PeeWee.

“The fire was fast and hot,” said Marshall, who has lived on the property since 1978. “We just figured they didn’t have a chance.”

, DataTimes