Gwinn family recovers after fire destroys home

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MARQUETTE - A Gwinn family lost their house to fire recently, and while they struggle with what to do next, they're finding out the depth of the U.P.'s sense of community.

Dexter and Andrea Clark of Gwinn were at home with their five children Sunday night when the fire broke out.

Dexter Clark said he and Andrea had put their two older children, Michael, 10, and Janet, 9, to bed and were downstairs feeding the three younger ones, Tristan, 7, Daniel, 3, and Rebekah, 15 months.

At about 9 p.m, they heard the upstairs smoke detector go off and then the older children came running downstairs.

"They were coming down the stairs saying there was smoke coming out of their bedroom," Dexter said. Then Andrea went upstairs with a fire extinguisher and discovered flames rolling across the ceiling of the room, he said.

"It was like, OK, everybody out, we're not going to be able to fight this," he said. The couple called 911 as they left the house, and Forsyth Township firefighters arrived at about 9:30 p.m., finding much of the upstairs of the Low Street house on fire.

"It started in an upstairs bedroom and pretty much took the whole upstairs," Forsyth Township Fire Chief Larry Hammond said.

Hammond said the fire rekindled twice in the next day, once at 3 a.m. and again around 6 p.m. Monday. Afterward, the home was a total loss, he said. The cause of the fire is undetermined, but not suspicious, Hammond said.

Dexter said the most important thing was that everyone was safe.

"We're just thankful all the kids are here and safe, and even our dog got out," he said, adding the family has a Newfoundland puppy named Mukwa, which is Ojibway for "bear." He said losing their home and belongings, while shocking, made him realize how much worse it could have been, and gave him some perspective on the event.

Susan Clark, Dexter's mother, expressed the same feeling.

"Everybody got out safe, and that's the main part. The kids are safe. The material things, you can replace, but there's no replacing a life," she said.

Dexter said even before the family had left the scene of the fire, help was arriving from several directions. Forsyth firefighters went to the basement and hauled out a freezer full of food, since it was unsafe for the family to go back in the house, he said.

"That's not necessarily what you'd call in the line of duty for them," he added.

Friends and neighbors swung into action right away that night, and Dexter said the community response has been overwhelming.

"Before we left Low Street that night, we already had a basket of clothes for the boys," he said. "We're just amazed that people are so willing to give to us."

The Salvation Army also arrived at the house while firefighters still were on the job, and offered shelter and money from the Marquette County Fire Victims Relief Fund.

"They said even before the fire was out that we'd have a place to stay, and there's a check waiting for you at the Marquette Police Department," Dexter said. "We never knew such a network could form so fast and take such care of us."

The Clarks now are staying with family while they look for housing, and are dealing with insurance claims and salvaging what they can from their house.

"Our acute needs are largely taken care of," Dexter said. "We have a roof over our heads. We have clothing and food, our church has offered to cook meals for us. We're in the process of looking for some temporary housing, probably in Marquette since that's where I work."

Dexter, 29, is a paramedic with Marquette General Hospital EMS, and Andrea, also 29, takes care of the couple's children.

They have had donations and offers of clothing, food and furniture, but Dexter said he and Andrea are still trying to figure out how to coordinate everything right now.

"There's just been an overwhelming response from the community," he said. "But we're in a position now where we don't know what we need."

Susan Clark said there has been an account set up for people to contribute if they desire. It's called the Dexter and Andrea Clark Fire Fund, and can be found at any Wells Fargo bank branch.

Susan said she'd been fielding many calls from people asking what the family needs right now, but the best thing to do to help is contribute to the fire fund because the family doesn't have storage space for material items right now.

Dexter added if the fund grows beyond what the family will need after everything is straightened out, they plan to contribute the rest back to the agencies who have helped them.

"If there's more than we need, I'd like to give back to the Salvation Army and the Pigs 'N' Heat fund," he said.