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Don Gronning
PRIEST RIVER – William and Cathy Wagner were only able to escape a June 30 fire that claimed their Priest River home with the clothes on their backs.
“I barely had time to put on my pants,” Wagner said. He didn’t take his wallet. “My wife wasn’t able to grab her purse. She just had the cell phone in her hand.”
He and his wife had just finished their showers when their neighbor, James Conrad, saw that their motor home was on fire and came banging on their door to warn them.
The fire started on the front of their 2002 motorhome at 8:43 p.m. and spread to the house, the couple’s ring camera revealed.
“Within 20 minutes, the whole house was engulfed,” Wagner said. He said he had just filled up the motorhome with fuel. The fire destroyed the home he and his wife have lived in 30 years.
Wagner said he wanted to clarify some things about the fire.
“For one thing, we were home when the fire broke out,” Wagner said. “For another, we lost all our vehicles, not just two.”
The 2002 motorhome, a Jeep, a Subaru and a ¾ ton pickup were destroyed, he said.
The first sounds of explosions were likely tires exploding from the heat, not ammunition, he said. Most of his ammunition was in a locked safe. He said he had a 9 mm handgun in the motorhome, but that wasn’t the sound of the explosions. There were also five propane tanks that exploded, he said.
Wagner said it was a good thing the start of the fire was recorded on the ring camera, as fire investigators were unable to determine the cause.
There were some blessings in the fire. Not everything was lost.
When the couple was going through the ashes, his wife found three of her four rings. She also found a lock of her granddaughter’s hair in a Ziplock baggie that survived the fire. Their single car garage was still standing. They had good insurance.
Wagner said the support from the community has been amazing. A Bill and Cathy Wagner Benefit Fund has been set up at SCTU. They are currently staying with their daughter north of Priest River.
