Moses Lake family loses home to fire
The Kirkman family is living in a tent and trailer next to their burned home near Moses Lake. The fire destroyed their home and killed some of their pets.
MOSES LAKE — In an hour, the Kirkman family watched helplessly as 29 years of memories burned in their home on Rainier Drive near Moses Lake.
Around 4:15 a.m. on Sunday, Kim Kirkman woke with a muscle spasm and heard her police scanner saying their was a fire on her street. She ran outside to see if her neighbors were okay, only to find it was her home on fire.
When she went outside, a man in a truck hollered at her that he called 9-1-1 to report the fire.
“He saved us,” she said about the unknown man.
Kim believes if not for the man calling 9-1-1, her sons and grandson would not have made it out alive. The fire was spreading quickly while they were asleep.
Kim and her son Robert Kirkman immediately began trying to put the fire out with a garden hose while the fire was on the outside of the home, but it wasn’t enough. The fire spread through the house, gutting it as Grant County Fire District 5 personnel worked to extinguish the flames.
Kim and Robert ran inside the burning house several times to get their pets out safely, but some of their animals died.
“I wasn’t going to give up,” Kim said about trying to save the animals.
Robert explained his primary reason for entering the home was to make sure his mother got out safely.
He sustained several burns on his body from trying to rescue the animals and protect his mother.
Kim explained firefighters managed to save a few of their belongings including wedding rings, a wallet, three pictures, personal documents, her husband’s ashes and Robert’s niece’s ashes.
“Fear,” is what Robert said he was feeling while watching his home burn.
“Where do we go?” is what Kim was thinking.
While the Kirkman family tries to figure out where to live, they are living in a tent and camper on the property next to the burned home.
“As long as we don’t look that way, we’re just camping,” Kim said pointing to where they used to live.
“And the smell of the burned wood is just our camp fire,” Robert said trying to comfort his mother. “I was born and raised in that house.”
Kim explained she had an insurance policy on the home that will help to cover some of the damage, but nothing can replace her memories.
She said the home was the dream of her and her deceased husband.
“Him and I worked hard for this,” she said.
Kim said she promised him she would never leave their home. She wants to rebuild on the land.
Family of Kim and Robert plan to place donation jars in several Moses Lake businesses in an effort to help them rebuild and replace their belongings.
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