A Two-Alarm Fire, a Displaced Family and a Red Cross Response

David Ullman, volunteer writer

In the middle of a warm August night in Laconia, New Hampshire, Cory and Joy Johnson were sleeping peacefully in their first-floor bedroom when they were jolted awake by the combined alerts of five smoke alarms. Their house, previously a duplex, still retained independent smoke alarm systems for each floor. Their five children had bedrooms on the second floor and all five alarms on that floor had been set off.  

The Johnsons ran to the second floor. When Joy saw smoke coming out of the second-floor kitchen she immediately ran to the children’s bedrooms. At the first bedroom her youngest child was awake and confused. 

“The fire alarms had woken up my youngest. He was crying and didn’t know what was going on,” Joy remembered. “I knelt down and his hair reeked of smoke, and I instantly got really angry because my kid was in danger.” 

As Joy gathered the kids Cory searched the second floor for the source of the smoke. After checking the kitchen appliances, he traced the smoke to the kitchen bathroom. In the bathroom he discovered smoke was pouring out of the ceiling exhaust fan. The fan itself was burning.

“The ceiling exhaust fan was on fire. It was all melted and you could see the fire and hear crackling,” Cory recalled. “I grabbed a fire extinguisher from the kitchen closet and doused up into the exhaust fan. The flames went out, but I could still hear crackling like there was a campfire going on above it.”

Cory’s frantic search for the source of the fire lead him to the attic stairs. At the top of the stairs smoke stopped him from entering the attic.  

“The smoke was so thick and black. I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t see a thing,” said Cory.

Returning to the second floor Cory found Joy with child on each hip and leading two others. Joy told Cory to get their oldest child who was still asleep in her bed.

Cory burst into his oldest daughter’s room and woke her up.

Cory recalled, “I kicked open her door and said, ‘Chloe get up! The house is on fire.’ This look of terror came over her face.  She grabbed her blanket and started sobbing.” 

Joy reassured the frightened children. “Our whole family is together,” she told them.  “We’re all ok, but we’re leaving the house and not coming back in for a long time.”

As they left the house Cory grabbed his phone from their bedroom. Once outside he dialed 911 while Joy moved the family to a neighbor’s driveway.

Cory returned to the house to gather what family documents he could. As the fire consumed the attic, he was able to gather several documents and personal mementos.  The volume of smoke on the first floor prevented him from returning a second time. 

By the time the family was gathered on the neighbor’s driveway, fire was blowing out of the rear attic window.  The police had arrived and as the Johnsons updated the officer, the attic window on the front of the house burst outward. The spray insulation in the attic was both trapping in the heat and feeding the fire.

As the fire department arrived, the Johnson’s 84-year-old neighbor moved the family from his porch into his home.

“It’s three in the morning and Jim [the neighbor] gets coffee on for Cory and I,” said Joy. “He gets ready for the day and then takes over. He and his grandson start doing what they can for our younger ones so Cory and I could talk to the fire chief and the police officers.”

The fire, now at second alarm status, continued to burn and grow.   

“The fire department was there really quick,” said Cory. “They called a second alarm as soon as they saw the fire.” 

Eight fire trucks were on scene fighting the fire. To vent the heat from the attic firefighters used chainsaws to cut several openings in the exterior walls, starting at the second-floor windows and crossing into the roof.

The house was a total loss. The Johnsons recalled the extent of the combined fire and water damage. 

“The third floor was completely gone. The roof was junk. The second floor had a lot of fire and smoke damage,” said Cory. “The first floor was untouched by the fire, but they put a lot of water on the house.”

Joy continued, “An hour into the fire, the Fire Chief said there was easily 10,000 gallons of water in the house. And they were there for a few more hours.”

Volunteer responders from the American Red Cross arrived as the fire trucks were leaving the scene. 

Cory remembers, “It was amazing. Everyone was there. We had eight different fire departments and the police. Then everyone left. That’s when the Red Cross showed up, which was amazing. They had bags of the essentials which we needed.  They had blankets for us.  They had stuffed animals for the kids.”  

“They let our kids each pick out a favorite stuffed animal.  One of the stuffed animals  is still my son’s favorite stuffie,” said Joy.  “Aside from the essentials, they also had activities to keep the kids busy.  It was very, very thorough and thoughtful.” 

“They also had a checklist of things you don’t think of because your brain is not working after a house fire, like contacting your insurance company and utility company,” added Cory.

In the weeks after the fire the Red Cross continued to monitor and support the Johnsons. 

“There was someone from the Red Cross who followed up with us several times, to make sure we had a place to stay but also wanting to check on the mental health of everyone, which was helpful,” said Joy. 

The Johnsons have resumed their life in a new home. They purchased a house that had a special connection for both Cory and Joy. The house was Cory’s childhood home where he and Joy first met as teenagers. It was listed for sale the same day the Johnsons received their insurance settlement.

Joy shared her final thoughts about the Red Cross.

“You hear all about the Red Cross and you see the Red Cross everywhere, but once you actually experience what the Red Cross does…” said Joy, trailing off.   

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