Rising from the ashes

POST FALLS — Losing everything in a house fire is a difficult way to start over, but for Lynn Rinker and husband Steve, it was the love and support they received from the community that made it possible.

Very early in the morning two days after last Christmas, their home on Viking Loop in Post Falls caught fire. Awakened at what seemed to be the very last second by the fire alarms, the Rinkers narrowly escaped the blaze with their daughter, Amanda Bray, grandson Kingston and two half-Maltese, half-Yorkie puppies named Kiki and Coco.

“December twenty-sixth we had a big family dinner," Lynn said. "My daughter and I sat up until 12:30 and talked. We went out on the deck and checked everything out and locked up.

"At 6:30 in the morning we woke up to flames everywhere. My grandson was up in the loft and he said, ‘Grandma there was smoke coming through the light fixture.’ The whole top of the roof was on fire with 30-foot flames.”

The blaze burned quickly and destroyed everything the Rinkers owned. The fire was so quick and immense that neighbors' homes were in danger of catching fire.

While the family stood outside in their night clothes, Kootenai County Fire & Rescue arrived with back-up assistance from other departments.

The official cause of the blaze is deemed “unidentifiable,” but is suspected to be from a barbecue on the patio that hadn’t been used for a week prior to the incident.

Neighbors, friends and community members came to the rescue almost immediately. And they stuck with the Rinkers, month after month.

Finally, about a week ago the family was able to move back into their re-built home.

It was the outpouring of love from the community that helped them get through it.

“We have a large family and all of our lives changed that morning,” the mother of six said. “Immediately our neighbors, friends, family and total strangers gave us emergency clothing, food, dishes and a pantry full of food.”

Fire Chief Christopher Way with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue drove by the site a couple of times a week for months to prevent looting, Rinker said.

DKI, a local disaster repair and construction company, addressed the cleanup, put up fencing around the site and helped sort through the ashes for hours on end, despite delays in payment due to insurance claim issues.

Neighbors put together boxes of necessities including gift cards, money, clothing and basics for the dogs.

“They bought dog food and dog beds,” Rinker said. “Who would think of that?”

For three solid months, community members like Spirit Larson brought meals to the family as they “huddled together” at daughter Rachel’s home, Rinker said.

Staff at STCU, where the Rinkers bank, collected gift cards for the family. Steve and Brenda Hanson with The Coeur d’Alene Press advertising staff “brought things all the time,” Rinker said. KHQ TV station representatives brought meals. Pepper Smock with Seasons restaurant, the Bluebird Cafe, The Coeur d’Alene Resort, Alison Roberts with Windermere Realty and people at the Resort Shops all pitched in to help.

“There were so many people, I don’t want to forget anybody,” Rinker said. Countless people offered anything the family needed, Rinker said.

The family stayed with Rinker’s brother for a time and then with daughter Rachel King, who owns Tiffany Blue. Then the Rinkers were able to secure a rental house while their home on Viking Loop was being rebuilt.

Lynn owns Memory Lane, a new and vintage store in the Resort Shops. As a jewelry maker and keeper of decades of family heirlooms, countless treasures were lost in the fire. The Rinkers’ daughters sorted through the ashes and rubble for hours trying to find anything salvageable.

Steve, who spent years in the construction industry, did a lot of the re-building on the family home.

Lynn is profoundly grateful for the outpouring of support and is determined to keep moving forward despite the trauma of the experience. Following the fire, she recounted the times she attempted to write thank you notes to everyone.

“I thanked everyone in my mind a thousand times,” Rinker said. “I just couldn’t write any notes. I tried but I

just cried. I couldn’t hardly get up.”

But thanks to the loving Coeur d’Alene community, the Rinkers have a place to call home once again, just as the new holiday season approaches.