‘Lost our whole life.’ Tacoma bishop recounts losing house and vehicles to fire

It took just a few minutes for a small fire in front of Enoch Brooks’ house in Tacoma to climb until the flames reached the telephone lines that sat near his roof.

Brooks is a bishop at Holy Trinity Church of Yah in Christ, which sits undamaged next to his home, which was destroyed by Saturday’s fire. He and his family lived in the house since 2011, but it is now unlivable from the damage. Two vehicles were destroyed as well. A motorhome parked in front of the house is also a total loss.

“Everything’s all melted, water damage, smoke damage,” Brooks told The News Tribune. “We lost … we lost our whole life.”

Tacoma firefighters were dispatched at 12:29 p.m. to Brooks’ house in the 6300 block of East F Street. The flames from the house extended to the motorhome. It also spread to a power pole, and seven customers lost power.

Three people were evaluated for injuries as a precaution, The News Tribune reported. Everyone got out of the house safely.

The fire displaced, Brooks, his wife Paula, who is first lady of the church, their 10-year-old and 3-year-old daughters, as well as a close friend named Larry who lived in the house.

Enoch Brooks said he was in his motorhome with Paula and their 3-year-old when he heard his neighbor banging on the door. Paula Brooks said they have stayed in the motorhome after their 4-year-old died four years ago in his sleep.

When Enoch Brooks heard the banging on the door, he thought either the dogs got out or Larry was in trouble.

“I opened the door to the RV, and all of a sudden I looked over, the whole house was totally engulfed in flames,” Enoch Brooks said.

Brooks said his 10-year-old daughter slept in the house, and she was still inside as well as Larry, who is in his late 60s.

“I ran through the smoke and the flames, kind of singed my arms a little bit, ran through the front door. It starting to heat up. I pushed through the door and went up the stairs and was hollering for Larry,” Brooks said. “And I was hollering for my daughter, ‘Get out, get out, get out!’”

Enoch Brooks said he recently had a stroke and he could not walk well.

“But when I seen the flames, I ran over there and busted that door to get them out. I was gonna get my daughter and Larry out no matter what,” Brooks said.

Enoch Brooks said he also got some of their dogs out of the house. One of their little dogs ran back inside, and Brooks said he ran after it because it was his daughter’s favorite.

Their dog, Bingo, and cat, Midnight, died from the fire. Four of their dogs, one which was Bingo’s twin, survived.

Paula Brooks said she did not know her daughter was out of the house until a firefighter came up to her. He asked Paula if she had a daughter, and her first thought was that he was going to tell her she was dead. Her dread was replaced with relief when she saw her daughter walking up.

“We give thanks to the fire department, because they did an excellent job,” Enoch Brooks said. “They got here quick. The flames must have been as high as the building. It was kind of a miracle that it didn’t spread to the church.”

Tacoma Fire confirmed Saturday the fire started because of an electrical issue where appliances were plugged in on the front porch. Burnt birthday presents, a new car destroyed

Enoch Brooks and his family have been wearing the same clothes since Saturday. They keep washing and re-wearing them because their personal items were destroyed. Paula Brooks, who collects sneakers from Nikes to Jordans, only has the one pair that she has been wearing since the fire.

Her new Cadillac, which she bought in March, is melted and burned on one side. Paula Brooks said she was going to move the car after the fire was discovered, but since the flames shot up so quickly on the vehicles, it was too hot for her to get inside. The new car is a loss as well since she only had liability coverage.

“Get full insurance coverage on all your vehicles,” Paula Brooks told The News Tribune.

Enoch Brooks said that he lost his bishop suits, and his children’s items also were destroyed. All of the birthday presents gifted to their 3-year-old are gone.

Paula and Enoch said they also lost pictures of their 4-year-old son.

“We’re just happy that everybody got out alive,” Paula said.

Enoch Brooks said since the fire he has had a pinched nerve in his back. He, his 10-year-old daughter and Larry were evaluated at a hospital that night.

“I’m glad God gave me the strength to run that day,” Enoch Brooks said.

The family has been living at a hotel in Tacoma. Some of the days were covered by the American Red Cross, but Enoch Brooks said they will have to find a new place to stay.

“Staying at a hotel gets kind of expensive because it’s almost $200 a night,” he said. “We didn’t want to go to a shelter or unsafe place for kids.”

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family, with about $1,400 raised so far. Enoch Brooks said they have a CashApp, which is $holytrinitychurch777. They’ve also been provided meals through a Meal Train.

“You just got to be thankful for what you have every day, because you never know, you never really appreciate what you had until you lose everything,” Enoch Brooks said.