Kellie Wang wants people to know ?how thankful we are?

by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor

Kellie Wang of Rogers City, who lost her family in a devastating house fire February 12, met with Michigan State Police fire marshal Sgt. Dale Hardy Tuesday. He offered his condolences to the family and gave Kellie an update on the fire investigation. According to Paul Warwick, Kellie?s stepfather, there has been no determination made regarding the cause of the fire that took the lives of Kellie?s husband Kirt and their four children, Steve, Sarah, Emily, and NaLeah.

Warwick believes the cause may never be known, although Hardy told them ?it was not a chimney fire.? That backs up what the family said a few weeks ago that Kirt and Steve had climbed on the roof three weeks before the fire and observed a clear chimney. The Wangs had been using the fireplace in the living room to supplement the heat during February?s cold spell. The origin of the fire is still believed to be the living room.

HARDY?S VISIT, which was described as a ?courtesy call? by family, came only two days after Kellie, Paul and Sally Warwick, returned from 12 days in Florida. Kellie had hoped to be at Sunday?s well-attended benefit dinner at St. John Lutheran Church, but tornadoes in the south and wintry conditions in Ohio slowed the trip home. ?Hopefully, everybody will know we are thankful — beyond thankful,? said Kellie, talking in a quiet tone. ?You can?t even say it in words, how thankful we are.? She has bags of cards from people, some she doesn?t even know, and wants to send them all ?thank you? cards. Kellie just opened one card with $200 inside from someone in New Hampshire. Another woman sent her a sympathy card every day to say, ?I?m still thinking of you.? ?I’ve got to send out thank you cards, and I’m going to,? she said. ?People need to be thanked. People gave so much and we weren’t here for any of it. I felt bad. I know people don’t feel that way, but I felt that way.?

THE ROAD to recovery is still bringing many emotional obstacles to overcome. Kellie said she was doing well Monday until her brother brought her Steve?s wallet. She said he always set it by his bedside when he went to bed at night.

?Getting things piece by piece has not been easy,? said Kellie, who has been given the clearance to enter the Orchard Street home to remove family items not destroyed. She would like to work on getting things out every day and move toward putting her new home on the lot. Kellie also said one or both of the cats that have not been accounted for may still be alive, as she found tracks around the house this week. Her blind cat, Bitty, which was found in the gutted home almost a week after the fire, doesn?t have any competition for food, as he looks

to have gained 10 pounds in a couple of weeks.

?IT DOESN’T seem like it has been a month; it doesn’t seem like it has been that long, but it has,? she said. When asked if the trip to Florida, and the time away, provided any healing or comfort she said, ?I’m not sure. I think I did better down there. We didn’t really do anything. We just sat around the house. I definitely wanted to come back, but now that I’m here it?s (feelings of sadness) starting all over again.? The community continues to provide immeasurable support, said Paul Warwick, even though the words are hard to come by.

?They don?t know how to talk to us, and we don?t know how to talk to them,? said Warwick. The actions of many during the last four weeks have spoken louder words.

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