Bitterroot Dr. Fire Victim Owes Good-Spirits to Family, Friends, Neighbors

The crunch of what was once the roof of Lynn Black’s home under your feet as he escorted crews to the backyard, was a sick reminder of the devastation that blew-in Thursday night.

“It took two days to wash the smell of smoke off my skin,” Black said.

Someone lighting-off illegal fireworks in a neighborhood behind his home late Thursday night, quickly escalated out of control, burning a path of destruction up the hill and into the Bitterroot Drive neighborhood.

But, displayed front and center in Black’s yard, were what was saved from the fire. What was saved, was irreplaceable – family photos. Not a scratch, nor a scar on any of them.

“That is amazing. I’m so fortunate. Very fortunate,” he said while riffling through what was salvaged.

On Monday afternoon, he was unsure of how everything would roll-out.

And roll-out, it did.

Crews wheeled two, badly-charred filing cabinets out onto the lawn, where Black was waiting to find out what happened to what was inside.

“I’ve been watching them from the broken glass window,” he said.

As he opened each drawer, he realized, everything inside miraculously was untouched.

“This was my whole life – my deeds, my mom’s deeds, everything,” he said. “It’s a little wet, but you know what? I think I’m going to be okay.”

Black said that night, he was downstairs watching a movie when he heard his neighbor pounding on his door.

“Pam banged on my door while Kandi woke up my neighbor next door and got us out of the house.”

That’s when he smelled the smoke.

“I stuck my head around the corner and there were already flames up the side of my house, so I ran back in the house and peeked out of my lower-slider here at my deck. I watched it turn black and then embers formed on it before it went ‘poof’. It was on fire,” he described.

Although Black is now staying in a hotel room after losing his home and his car, he said the devastation has been softened because he still has what’s most important to him.

“It’s just stuff. It’s devastating in a way and has totally disrupted my life, but I think it’s because of my family, kids, neighbors, and friends who keep you going. They really do.”