Patty and David Mouton are back in their Harvey-flooded house now. But Friday morning, they are facing another disaster, this one caused by fire.
Their retirement house in Forbes Park, Colorado, is believed to have been destroyed by wildfire overnight. “This is an absolute nightmare,” Patty said.
The Moutons live in the Camelot subdivision in Pinehurst. Tropical Storm Harvey flooded their house and neighborhood. The couple and their dog were rescued by boat.
The fire has come 10 months after the rain. Friday morning Colorado media were reporting the Spring Fire was at 25,000 acres and had tripled overnight.
The house was near completion. The Moutons have spent vacations and days off for the past five years doing most of the interior work. Thursday afternoon Patty was optimistic that a firewall being built with bulldozers would keep the wildfire away from their house. By Thursday night, she learned the firewall wasn’t working.
In a Thursday evening interview with KOGT, Patty said she learned about the fire from their plumber. He had been intalling the boiler to heat the house. He called Wednesday afternoon to tell her he couldn’t get to the house because of the fire. It was the first the Moutons had heard about the wildfire.
She called the park’s office and was told “It’s bad. We’re evacuating.” Patty didn’t sleep that night.
Thursday she was optimistic. Forbes Park is a large wooded development. She said it’s 15 miles from the front gate to the back, which is adjacent to a national forest. The Mouton house is on a hill in the middle overlooking a manmade lake. Maybe the fire could be stopped. Helicopters were dumping water from the air and firefighters were battling hard.
“It’s the sentimental things that I’m worried about,” Patty said. “So much important stuff to us.”
The two built two rustic beds, end tables, and a farmhouse dining table for the house. David last year shot a bear during a hunting trip to Canada. Recently the finished bearskin rug was delivered.
The vintage Ferris wheel seat turned into a swing is a also treasured item. The colorful wooden upholstered seat came from the Lions Club Carnival’s Ferris wheel that was destroyed in Hurricane Rita. The Moutons were high school sweethearts and on their first date in 1976, David took Patty to the carnival. They rode that Ferris wheel.
Both are now members of the Orange Lions Club. Members were offered the chance to buy a Ferris wheel seat and they aquired one. The couple restored the seat and built a swing stand for it.
David is due to retire at the end of August. Their retirement plans have been to spend summers in Colorado and winters in Texas.
The Colorado house is insured, but the money won’t replace their special belongings. Patty said they might cash out the insurance and not rebuild. They spent months of rebuilding their flooded home and dealing with the accompanying problems.
“I don’t want to go through that again,” she said.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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