Man loses wife’s ashes, his home and his 24-year-old cat in Pierce County fire
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- Pierce County fire destroyed Leeland Smith’s home, pet cat and wife’s ashes.
- Smith lacked active home insurance; Red Cross and community gave short-term aid.
- Family launched GoFundMe to fund debris removal and provide a temporary camper.
Neighbors are rallying to support a Key Peninsula man who lost his home, his cat and his wife’s ashes in a house fire earlier this month.
The Key Peninsula Fire Department was called for a small bush fire that escalated to a 2-acre fire off 80th Street on July 12 at 5:50 p.m., the department’s incident report said.
“Upon arrival found large volume of active fire, affecting multiple small, detached outbuildings, parked vehicles, travel trailers, garbage piles, torching trees and uncleared brush, and the entire charlie side of the double-wide structure,” the report states.
Leeland “Butch” Smith, the property owner of 30 years, was home alone with his cat, Rascal, when he noticed flames coming from his backyard, he told The News Tribune on July 23.
He evacuated and “got away with the clothes on his back and vehicle,” his niece-in-law, Tawnya King, told The News Tribune on July 22. The 24-year-old cat died in the fire, she said.
Smith had to put his dog, Georgia, down a few months before the fire, his grandson, Steven Mashburn, told The News Tribune on July 22. “It’s one thing after another,” he said.
Smith wasn’t injured in the fire, Mashburn said.
It took fire crews nearly six hours to contain and put out the residential fire, according to the incident report. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The fire destroyed about $120,000 worth of property, including Smith’s double-wide mobile home, various trailers and trucks that burned in the fire, the report said.
An urn with his late wife’s ashes and their wedding pictures were lost in the fire, Smith said.
“It gets me down, but I have to keep going,” he said. “I’m trying to think about the future, not the past.”
Smith doesn’t have homeowner’s insurance to cover the cost of the damage. He said he did have insurance, but that it lapsed while he was sick in the hospital.
“It’s a battle, but I’m trying to be positive,” he said.
The Red Cross provided Smith with a gift card that allowed him to stay in a hotel for two days. He’s currently staying with a friend until he finds a more permanent living situation, he said.
His stepdaughter, Jeanne Mashburn, organized a GoFundMe that will go toward clearing the property’s debris, replacing medication he lost in the fire, and providing Smith with a camper to live in on the property, his grandson said. It’s raised over $1,500 in less than 10 days.
The community has also shown support by helping the family clear the fire debris to make space for a trailer until he can afford a mobile home.
“I’m just really appreciative for what people are doing for me,” Smith said.
