The remains of John and Carolyn Bliesner's home in Malden, Wash. are shown above. Like many others in the small town, the couple lost everything they had when they were given a warning to leave immediately to escape the fast moving Babbs Road Fire on Labor Day.
A small figurine rests in the ashes of the Bliesner home. The older couple had no homeowners insurance when a wildfire consumed their house and many other structures in Malden on Monday, Sept. 8.
CHENEY – The only warning Malden residents John and Carolyn Bliesner had of the coming disaster was the urgent pounding on their door and yelled instructions to leave - now.
The couple's daughter, Connie Marsh, said they only had time to grab a few things before they bolted from their home on West Moreland and fled to nearby Rosalia to seek shelter along with other residents from the firestorm that consumed 70-80 percent of the small Whitman County town.
"It's hard to understand," Marsh of Cheney said Tuesday morning. "It sounded like the winds changed direction."
The fire began near Babbs Road in Spokane County, but driven by high winds quickly grew, crossing into Whitman County and decimating Malden and Pine City to the southwest.
"It was moving hot and moving quick," Marsh said. "They had no time."
The couple escaped with only the clothes on their backs, losing their home and everything in the fire, including Carolyn's medical equipment and medications needed to battle a long-term health condition. Making the destruction worse, Marsh said, is they had no homeowners insurance, having made a decision to forgo the protection because of their fixed income - John works as a custodian at Eastern Washington University - and medical needs.
Marsh has set up a Go Fund Me page to help with expenses. Donations can be made at "Fire relief for the Bliesner Family."
The couple has since found accommodations in Rosalia through some friends from their church. Marsh said they are "inconsolable," especially her mom, having been forced to leave so quickly that they had to leave their two cats behind.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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