Woman loses everything in home fire, community plans benefit for Feb. 8

photo by David Vaughan Firefighters from Eastern Douglas County, Brixey-Rockbridge and Dora VFDs fought a blaze at Julie Booth’s house on east Highway 14 for three hours in the early morning hours Sunday.
It was 3:18 a.m. last Sunday, Jan. 26, when Julie Booth’s son and daughter-in-law noticed that Julie’s house, which sits a short distance from their own house, was on fire. They quickly called Julie and 911 to report the blaze.
Eastern Douglas VFD was dispatched, along with Brixey-Rockbridge and Dora VFDs in mutual aid. The call first came across firefighters’ radios as a grass fire, but when they arrived on scene, the home was fully engulfed in flames.
“God was on her side,” BRVFD Fire Chief Rory Liddicoat told the Times Monday. “Her cousin had taken a fall the day before, and she’d stayed the night with her in Mountain Grove, so she wasn’t home. She is a really hard sleeper, so if she had been home, it could have been really bad.”
The firefighters worked to contain the fire for three hours, letting it burn out, before they left the scene.
While thankfully no one was home at the time, Julie did lose her dog, her grandchildren’s two birds and a fish - along with all of her belongings - in the fire.
As is often the case in our small communities, the victim of the house fire was no stranger to the firefighters who fought the blaze - she is a neighbor, friend and fellow church member to several of those who responded.
“We all go to church together at Gentryville Church, and she’s just such a great lady. She’s the first one out to help anyone who needs it,” Fire Chief Liddicoat said.
He said that Julie does have family she can stay with, and the church offered her items from its “City of Hope,” a large building full of clothes and other basic items that are offered to people in desperate situations like house fires. “Just so they can at least have the bare necessities immediately after something like this,” Liddicoat said.
The Gentryville Church members have also organized a benefit fish fry dinner and auction on Julie’s behalf. It will be held at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Vanzant Community Center. All proceeds from the event will go directly to Julie to recover after the fire.
The church is accepting donated items from individuals and businesses to auction off. To donate an item, contact Salena Vaughan at 417-260-1959 or Chief Liddicoat at 1-480-276-3543.