I often scold myself for not seeing the world with a more positive outlook. I have friends and acquaintances who I just marvel at for their ability to seemingly always see the good in every person and situation.
I never shared this with anyone, but during a recent trip to the grocery store, I remember being so disheartened as I pushed my shopping cart through the parking lot. During my shopping, I had witnessed a shocking amount of instances in a very short period of time of folks being rude and insensitive to others. They were subtle things, and none were done to me, but for some reason on this day they caught my attention.
The thing I realize, however, is I have to be better at what I allow to be the focus of my attention. There are a lot of good people in this world, particularly in this area, who are doing many things that restore my faith in our fellow man.
I was blessed this morning to have received a call from Yacolt resident Jane Ippoliti. On March 13 (Friday the 13th), the home of Jane and her husband Thomas (known to friends and family as Ron) caught on fire when they weren’t home. According to fire officials, the home sustained more than $330,000 in damages and a loss of contents of about $264,000. It has still yet been determined whether or not the structure can be rebuilt or whether it will be a complete teardown.
But, Jane didn’t call to tell me her tale of woe. She called me because she was overwhelmed with the response her and her husband have received from so many others at their time of need.
“I couldn’t believe how everybody pitched in,’’ Ippoliti said. “That’s why we love living out here, It’s because people are that way here.’’
Ippoliti called because she wanted to find a way to thank everybody who helped them. I am happy to give her the chance to do just that.
“All of these people deserve so much credit,’’ Ippoliti said. “Please thank everybody from us and let them know we want to give special thanks to everyone who came out and participated.’’
Ippoliti had a long list of people she wanted to thank. She’s doesn’t even know the names of most of the people – such as the neighbor who saw the orange glow from across the lake and called 9-1-1, and the neighbor who rushed to the scene to let the animals out of the house, and the neighbor who brought bottles of water to hand out to all the volunteers and members of the community who raced to the scene in the middle of the night to contribute to the effort.
Crews from Fire District 10, mostly volunteers, were the first to respond, led by Battalion Chief Gordon Brooks. Assistance was then requested from Fire District 13 and soon there were 22 responders on the scene, two engines, three tenders and a squad from District 10, an engine and tender from District 13 and am ambulance and battalion chief from North Country EMS. And countless neighbors and other members of the community.
“I drove up and our neighbors had our dogs on leashes and people were doing things for us instantly without us even being there,’’ Ippoliti said.
Ippoliti praised Brooks for calling Battle Ground’s Country Restoration, who responded within 20 minutes of the phone call.
“I couldn’t believe it; they came out at about midnight,’’ Ippoliti said. “The representative took one look and said, ‘I’m calling my entire crew out here and all my equipment.’’
Ippoliti also praised Fire Marshal Susan Anderson.
“She went in and had them get my husband’s medication and breathing machine and arranged for housing for us,’’ Ippoliti said. “She found a hotel for us who would take our animals.’’
Ippoliti wasn’t just impressed with the willingness of everyone to pitch in and help, but with their expertise and precision as well.
“There was hardly any roof left, but they managed to crawl up and with what little roof was left, they tarped the best the could,’’ she said. “Unbeknownst to us, they went through the living room and dining room and took all of our furniture and put it in the garage without even being asked. It was really impressive. I don’t know how they did it. They worked from 12:30 (a.m.) until about 5:30 (a.m.).’’
Ippoliti said Brooks was “very considerate, very caring and he kept us informed exactly what was going on. It was so professionally handled that it took all the pressure off us. I don’t know how anyone could have done anything any better.
“Everybody was so caring and they are so well trained that it’s like second nature to them. They were so considerate without being overly dramatic. You’re in a state of shock and they are taking you by the hand and leading you to whatever needs to be done.’’
And when the sun came up and the new day had arrived, it was more of the same.
“The next day there was quite a few people who came out and helped even more,’’ Ippoliti said. “A lot of them were neighbors and one was my son (Robert Jensen, of Hockinson) and his father-in-law Tim Ritmiller who was visiting from Pennsylvania.’’
As I mentioned, we often get consumed by everything going in our lives that we don’t take the time to see what is going on around us. At the start of the year, I wrote in this space some goals I had for myself in 2015. One of those was to seek and experience more joy. I had a reader call and say that when that happened, she encouraged me to write about it.
Well, thanks to Jane Ippoliti’s phone call, I experienced some joy today. And, as instructed, I shared that with you.
Ken Vance
Editor
