Amber Henson and her son, Rob Wood, were asleep in their La Sal home on the night of Nov. 1 when they awoke to the smell of smoke. Henson said by the time they woke up and got out of the house, the blaze was already so extreme they were not able to go back in to rescue their dog, Rosco, who was killed in the fire. It’s unknown what caused the fire, which appears to have originated on the back porch. A La Sal first responder brought the local fire truck to the property and emptied its water tank; it took some time for other firefighting resources to arrive from farther away. The house, on which Wood had recently spent a significant amount of savings to remodel, was destroyed. “We lost everything,” said Henson. They’re currently staying with a friend, and have set up a GoFundMe page to help them with medical expenses to care for burns sustained in the fire, as well as to begin to rebuild after devastating loss. As of Nov. 10, the page had raised over $10,000 of its $20,000 goal. To contribute, visit gofundme.com/f/rob-and-ambers-house-fire-recovery-efforts.
