Christine Valada and Len Wein’s home burned to the ground on Monday. The escaped with Mike, but their dog was killed.
Harlan Ellison was over there turning the ashes with a shovel, trying to help them find anything left. (See Ellison’s long post from April 6.)
The fire was apparently caused by a power surge that shorted out a wall heater.
[Thanks to David Klaus for the story.]
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Your article — and Harlan’s piece — overstates things. Any fire damage is bad but isn’t quite as bad as pictured. While their house is, indeed, unlivable, it’s mainly from smoke damage. The master bedroom and bath were burned out — the walls still stand but everything inside, including the ceiling, is gone. Nearby rooms had extreme heat and smoke damage and smoke damage runs throughout. Lots of books, DVDs, artwork, awards, etc. are gone forever. Friends have been helping with sorting through some of the damaged remains while workers from the insurance company pack and take to storage that which remained intact. They’ll be out of their home for app. six months while it’s being repaired and rebuilt.
Thanks, Craig. The original account I read seemed to indicate that all that was left of their home were smoldering ashes, but I’m glad to be wrong and that they can rebuild, while sad at the loss of so much irreplaceable material and horrified at the fate of their dog. (My late mother had one dog from puppyhood to old age after another, from her teen years through my childhood and teen years at home all the way until she couldn’t outlive another one. This would have been one of her nightmares.)
Frankly, I’m just surprised Mr. Wein stopped to put on pants while escaping. (“If pressed, might skip shorts.” — Manny Garcia O’Kelly Smith, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress) If I woke up to flames licking across the ceiling above my bed, I’d run out naked (possibly-but-not-certainly carrying the pants to don outside) and to hell with public morals.
Craig is totally correct on this. The damage is bad, but not quite the end of the world level destruction which has been reported by others.
P. S.: Pants or not, Mr. Wein deserves a hero’s award for saving Mrs. Valada’s son Michael’s life.