Ephrata couple focuses on survival

MOSES LAKE - The two people displaced by a fire in Ephrata last Friday are keeping their spirits high and outlooks positive. David Joy, 49, and Kimberly Hasewinkle, 43, lost everything as a morning fire destroyed their home when a kerosene lantern lit their kitchen ablaze at the Chinook Apartments on Basin Street Northwest.

Due to incorrect information, The Columbia Basin Herald initially reported there were no injuries in Monday's paper.

"This has been pretty devastating trying to survive," Hasewinkle said. "We're basically scraping out of the streets to survive."

The couple lost everything in the blaze, including two 2-year-old kittens, Smokey and Cocoa. Hasewinkle suffered from smoke inhalation at the fire, as well as second-degree burns along her shoulders and back. Joy received second- and third-degree burns over his face, neck, arms and hands.

Hasewinkle said she was getting items ready last Friday for a yard sale she was planning to hold last Saturday. Joy, meanwhile, said he was out in the kitchen, refilling a lantern before the fire.

"I heard something clack in the back, and I could have swore it was a cat or something," he said. "But I turned around and there was a fire going."

"The next thing I remember is him yelling, 'Honey! Fire!'" Hasewinkle said. "When I went into the kitchen, the whole counter was engulfed in flames. Everything was on fire."

Their apartment was destroyed, burning fully stocked cupboards and prescription medication. Hasewinkle collapsed near the bedroom, where Joy picked her up and pushed her out of the small bathroom window before escaping the inferno himself.

"I can't breathe, and I can't really function, but my eyes were open," Joy said. "And I'm laying there thinking to myself that I'm going to die."

He said that he was fighting the heat and smoke of the fire billowing out of the window as he tried to gasp for fresh air as he hoisted himself outside.

The next thing the couple knew medical aid and fire crews were on the scene, treating their wounds and extinguishing the blaze.

But the emotional wounds were just beginning.

The couple met when they were both homeless on the streets of downtown Seattle.

The two have been attempting to piece their lives back together, and had been living in the Ephrata apartment since February. Joy has been meticulous with money, keeping track of every penny going in and out their hands.

Having been on Supplemental Security Income for some time, he kept a notebook notating exactly where each cent goes.

"David is so frugal that, I think it was our second date together, I told him I was hungry, and asked that if was going to get me something to eat," Hasewinkle said. "And he goes, 'Of course I'll take you somewhere. The food bank is just up the street,'" she said laughing.

The two have been together for nearly five years and have pretty much been inseparable, Joy said.

"Seeing that we were homeless together in downtown Seattle, we were always protective of each other and kept each other safe. The streets of downtown Seattle can get pretty crazy," Hasewinkle said.

So when Joy was transported to Harborview Medical Center after the fire, the two had a hard time coping with being apart. While he was gone, Hasewinkle went back to what remained of the couple's home to see if any of her kittens survived.

"The first feeling I had is that I wanted to drop down to my knees," she said. "I couldn't believe everything we had was gone." She suffered several nightmares after the fire, and Joy walked out of the hospitals doors to be back with her.

"I should be there for her," he said. "When the house burned down and the cats were gone, I don't want to see her back on the streets. There's no way."

The two say they rely on each other for survival.

"I don't know if it's just permanently in my brain or my body, but those survival instincts just kicked in," Hasewinkle said. The two spent Thursday night in a Moses Lake motel and today face life back on the streets as aid funds have dried up. Joy, a Moses Lake native, and Hasewinkle, from the Shoreline area of Seattle, still take it day by day.

"I still try my best," Joy said. "I look at the best part of life and not the worst. It might be snowing and cold outside, and I'm freezing my toes off. But I'll think of some bright, shiny day. But there's survival. I'll survive. I will survive."

The couple has received donations from the American Red Cross and friends, such as Shirley McCray. McCray said she plans on putting donation cans around the city to raise funds for the couple, both for Joy's medical care and to keep a roof over their heads.

"I'm praying that some donations will come in tonight or early tomorrow so that we hang on this room a few more nights" Hasewinkle said. "Looking at him, treating his wounds, and knowing that he's in pain is definitely emotional."