Bethany and Jeremy Robbins and their family had their lives turned upside down last summer when a fire destroyed their garage and many things inside their house in Alliance. They couldn’t live in their house for two months, and even today, they’re still working hard to repair the damage. But despite the devastation and the challenge of putting their house – and their lives – back together the last six months, the Robbins say they have a lot to be thankful for, especially that they’re all still alive.
JEFF FIELDER Editor
ALLIANCE – Bethany Robbins and her 16-year-old son, Isaac, pulled up next to their house – located just across the street from Central Park in Alliance – at about 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 24.
They had only been gone for a couple hours, just long enough to go mow a couple lawns. When they returned home, they didn’t notice anything unusual. Bethany’s daughter, Callie, 13, was on the front porch reading a book, and her two adopted sons, Jun, 21, and Bob, 24, who are from Korea, were downstairs taking a nap. They had just gotten home that morning after flying from California, where they attend college, and they were tired from the trip.
When Bethany walked into the house, she smelled smoke. She wasn’t alarmed, though, because she figured the wind had caused a little smoke from something outside – like someone burning trash – to filter into her home.
Just a few seconds later, though, a police officer from the Alliance Police Department opened the front door, rushed into the house, and gave Robbins a startling message.
“He said our back garage, which is attached to our house, was on fire,” Bethany said. “He said we had to get everyone out of the house now.”
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