Monday, February 27, 2012

Apartments Catch Fire in Shawnee, Kansas

Among the many things I love about blogging, is the passion people have for other people and their animals. When tragedies strike, we bloggers come together. This past weekend I learned about the fire that destroyed the apartment buildings of Amy Palmer and Kathi McKinley.
Image courtesy of KCTV5.


Amy is a friend of a friend - fellow blogger Lisa Richman of A Tonk's Tail...err, Tale. This past weekend, Amy lost her apartment and possessions to a massive apartment fire. Amy was able to rescue her cat Sebastian and her guinea pig Dottie. Her neighbor Kathi was at work when she got a call from Amy that their apartment buildings were on fire. Kathi's cat CJ was found outside the apartment complex, but Kathi's other cat Cosmo has not been found (it is unclear whether he was inside the building or if he made it out -- I know, we're holding back tears too).


As stated in Lisa's blog post:
"It turns out that a vet was on site the night of the fire and she was the one who found CJ running away from the fire. She was able to get oxygen on him right away (thanks to MedAct). That helped counteract his smoke inhalation problems. She also called ahead to Mission MedVet to let them know she was coming."

Kathi's cat CJ spent time at the Mission MedVet to recover from the burns he had on his body. As of Sunday 2/26/12, CJ was home with Kathi, but Cosmo remained missing.

Among losing her apartment, favorite things that Amy lost included her animal shelter shirts, photos and pet ashes. 

I thought about the numerous times I imagined what would happen to my family if our house caught on fire. We have seven cats, and it's heartbreaking at the thought of losing any of my cats. They say to get yourself out and worry about everything else later. And to me? It wouldn't matter, because I would be in there, trying to get my cats out of the house in any way possible.

But I know that that is not always a possibility. Amy and Kathi are lucky to have Sebastian, Dottie and CJ -- and very sadly, in Lisa's post on A Tonk's Tale today- Kathi confirmed that Cosmo did not make it out of the building. We are devastated to hear that.

Amy and Kathi were given new apartments, but they have to start over from scratch. This story hit so close to home, that I knew I had to do something to help. I'm so fortunate and blessed to have so many clothes and cat products - that it was a no-brainer that I would send some to Amy and Kathi.

So I went through clothes and picked out some gently used shirts from my animal rescue, other shirts, cat toys, cat blankets, cat treats, cat wands, purses and unworn socks. Right now, I have packaged it all up and it  will be sent out tomorrow to Amy and Kathi. 
A big box of cat toys, treats, blankets and clothes for Amy and Kathi, from me.

If you would like to send anything to Amy or Kathi - there is a ChipIn donation link for Amy here and Kathi here.

2 comments:

  1. I am proud to call you and your family 'Friends'...you are very special people and I know the things you sent will make starting anew easier as the gifts are from the heart...

    ReplyDelete