Arley family in need after losing everything in house fire

ARLEY     -  A father, mother and their toddler are needing help getting back on their feet after escaping their burning home in the early morning hours of  Friday, Jan. 14.
Stephen Mair, his fianceè, Summer Dowdy and their 1 1/2-year-old son, Jett, were able to escape the burning home located on County Road 221 in the Wilson Bend area of Smith Lake.  However, seven newborn puppies died in the fire, according to officials with the Arley Fire Department, who found them in the laundry room after the fire had been extinguished.
The family had been living in the double wide manufactured home on Smith Lake the past six months while land was being cleared for the family to build a home across the lake in the Houston area, said Mair, who owns a dirt works business.
“We were in bed with my son asleep between us.  My wife woke me up because she was  coughing,” Mair said. “No fire alarms went off.”
The fire alarm in the house was blinking, but did not sound, he recalled.
“The first thing I did was get them out,” he recalled. “I got them out of the house first thing.”
The master bedroom, where the family had been sleeping, was beside the kitchen and laundry room area, which was blazing when the family got up to get out.
“I came (toward the laundry room) first because I didn’t know where the fire was,” Mair said. “So I grabbed them and I started heading out (toward the laundry room door). I got to this door and I felt the heat off the door. I saw smoke rolling out, so I automatically turned back and went the other way and went out the front.
“I went back in to get them a blanket. It was freezing cold outside, and I went back in to get my cell phone and hers just happened to be laying there.  My son’s tablet was laying there, so I grabbed them up,” Mair recalled.

Mair had enough time to grab those items and his wallet.
 “I was just trying to get my cell phone so I could call 9-1-1, so maybe we wouldn’t lose all our stuff,” he said.
Due to the cold temperatures, the family got into his truck, which was turned on, with the heat keeping the family warm.
The Arley Fire Department was called at 2:29 a.m. to a structure fire at 403 County Road 221, noted firefighter George Gibson.
Arley Fire Captain Brian Kuntz, one of the first to arrive on the scene, found the family in their truck and heavy fire coming up the right side of the house.
The adult mother dog escaped the fire along with the family, but her newborn pups did not, Kuntz related.
Firefighters began an aggressive attack on the blaze, with firefighters beating down the fire and entering a side door to find the kitchen, laundry room and closet area fully involved, Kuntz stated.  The fire had burned up into the attic.
“It was difficult to knock the fire down because it was up between ceilings,” Kuntz said, about the double ceiling in the manufactured home.
The mutual aid agreement between Arley and Helicon on structure fires resulted in Helicon responding to provide assistance with water and manpower, noted Helicon Assistant Chief Greg Ackley.  Firefighters applied 3,500 total gallons of water to beat down the blaze, they said.
“Arley’s engine was running out of water, so we fed (water) from Helicon’s tanker,” Ackley said. The Helicon tanker refilled with water from a hydrant about two miles away, Ackley said.
Arley applied water through a window to knock down the flames in the kitchen area and laundry room, with firefighters making an interior attack beating down flames in the living room and checking for hot spots, said Ackley, one of the firefighters to go inside.
Firefighters had to pull down the ceiling in order to check for hot spots in the attic area, according to Ackley.
Firefighters termed the house a total loss. The cause of the blaze has not been determined.
Mair noted the family did not have renter’s insurance and were in need of work clothing for himself and his fianceè and toys for his son.  Donations to help this family would be greatly appreciated and can made by contacting Mair at (256) 412-9916.
“We have a lot from family. They have helped out a lot,” Mair stated.
Clothing sizes for the little boy are 18-24 months.