A Douglas couple is trying to salvage what they can after a devastating shop fire spread to their 102-year-old home on South 5th Street on Friday morning.
Judy Naughton, 59, said she and her husband John, 63, were getting ready for the day about 6 a.m. when a neighbor who lives a few houses over came knocking on the door of their 1923 Craftsman bungalow.
“She said she saw an orange glow and she looked to see where it was at, and it was the big cottonwood tree in our backyard,” Naughton said. “We didn’t know anything was wrong until she came pounding on our door.
“She said, ‘Your back yard is on fire, and she already had her cellphone out calling the fire department.”
The couple went outside to look and saw their shop building with all of John's tools ablaze and the tree next to it burning.
Judy said the flames were inches from their home and they knew they were in trouble.
“I could tell that the house would probably go because it was so close,” she said.
Before lunchtime, their three-bedroom, two-bathroom home had been devastated, significantly damaged by flames, heat, and water used by Douglas Fire Department hoses after firefighters responded to the scene.
Douglas Volunteer Fire Department Chief Rick Andrews said Monday he was not available to respond to the fire, so did not have a lot of details.
He characterized the blaze as “still under investigation.”
Judy said she was told by a fire investigator that he was going to write up that the fire likely started in a wood stove in the shop.
John and Judy Naughton have been displaced from their home after a fire swept through a shop and their home on Friday. (Courtesy Ana McDaniel) 
A Douglas couple is trying to salvage what they can from their 1923 Craftsman bungalow home that was devastated by fire Friday morning. A shop next to the home full of the husband’s tools also burned. He’s a carpenter recently laid off for the season. (Courtesy Ana McDaniel) 
A Douglas couple is trying to salvage what they can from their 1923 Craftsman bungalow home that was devastated by fire Friday morning. A shop next to the home full of the husband’s tools also burned. He’s a carpenter recently laid off for the season. (Courtesy Ana McDaniel) 
A Douglas couple is trying to salvage what they can from their 1923 Craftsman bungalow home that was devastated by fire Friday morning. A shop next to the home full of the husband’s tools also burned. He’s a carpenter recently laid off for the season. (Courtesy Ana McDaniel)
Wood Stove Suspected
“He’s just assuming it’s the wood stove in the shop because everything is so damaged,” she said. “It’s kind of hard to tell.”
Judy praised firefighters and other first responders for their help and efforts to save what they could.
Damage to the shop was total, and Judy said inside were all kinds of tools, compressors, welding equipment, and more lost.
She said her husband works construction and was recently laid off for the winter season.
Their century-old house also was significantly damaged, just as winter is setting in and John has no construction work.
The fire destroyed the kitchen with its appliances, part of the dining room, and left significant smoke damage to the rest of the home.
Firefighters had to punch a hole in the dining room ceiling to ensure that the fire was out in the attic.
“It’s just black soot everywhere,” Judy said about what’s left. “We’re not sure if we will be able to salvage anything from the house.”
They have tried cleaning clothes that suffered smoke damage, but despite suggestions from several people have yet to find the right formula using vinegar and other tips to get the the job done.
The basement, which had a bedroom, bathroom and little kitchen area, also suffered smoke and water damage.
“My husband had some antiques down there that are damaged,” Judy said.
For her, the cracking and breaking of the home’s original windows are a big loss, Judy said.
“They’re all cracked,” she said. “Some of them are completely busted out.”
While the couple has insurance on the home, some antiques and heirlooms handed down in the family cannot be replaced.
Metal Roof Helped
Naughton said they bought the home in 2009, and her husband had replaced the roof with a metal one a few years ago, which may have helped save a neighbor's house from catching on fire.
At the suggestion of their neighbor, the Naughtons' daughter, Ashley Veldhuizen, started a GoFundMe to help with expenses.
She characterized the couple as “the kind of people who show up for everyone.”
“They both have been serving the community for more than 10 years,” she said. "My mom was a nurse at the urgent care and a lot of her patients that I would see around town would just have really great things to say about her about how compassionate she was.
"I could tell by the way they talk that she just impacts people.”
Veldhuizen said the cost to repair their home is expected to be at least $20,000, not including the many personal items and tools lost in the fire.
Insurance will not cover everything, and damage is extensive enough that the couple will be displaced for months.
Now a nurse at the Summit Ridge assisted living facility, Judy said both she and her husband are grateful for the help of neighbors and the love that has been shown.
“I was really surprised at just the people that have reached out to us, the donations … and personal texts,” she said. “It really means a lot. I can’t imagine being someplace without that support.
"Our fire wasn’t even out yet and our neighbors rushed over to help us.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
