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Anderson fire rescue house creates trend

By Christina M. Wright The Herald Bulletin The Herald Bulletin Thu Sep 30, 2010, 11:33 PM EDT

ANDERSON, Ind. — Madison County was the first, but it’s no longer the only. And, it won’t be the last, if a local firefighter gets his way.

“We want to take this thing national,” said Skip Ockomon, an Anderson firefighter who spearheaded the Madison County Fire Rescue House project.

Since Madison County Fire Rescue House became the first project of its kind one year ago, three more houses — one in Kentucky — have joined Ockomon’s quest to provide secondary housing to fire victims. With a recent nonprofit organization designation, Ockomon is prepared to aid the opening of houses nationwide.

“He’ll definitely do it; he’s got a lot of ambition,” said Annette Hornbeck, one of the most recent occupants of the Madison County Fire Rescue House.

Ockomon said he received notice Monday that the Madison County Fire Rescue House has been certified as a nonprofit organization. He said that certificate now gives him the green light to make rescue houses a national reality.

Already, houses have launched in Alexandria and Miami County. Another is set to open next week in southwest Kentucky. Ockomon said he is also working with two other Indiana counties on projects.

“We’re going to work with my connecting states, and they’re going to work with their connecting states,” Ockomon said, laying out his plan to go national. “And, we’re just going to branch out that way.”

The Madison County Fire Rescue House quickly became a welcome addition to the county after it opened Sept. 29, 2009. The organization has partnered with other local nonprofits to house 10 families in the county whose homes were left uninhabitable by fires.

“We’ve learned how much there is a need for them,” Ockomon said of the houses. “I thought maybe we’d use it one time a year; I never dreamed we’d use it 10 times this year.”

Ockomon has received several awards over the past year for his organization and development of the fire rescue house, including The Herald Bulletin’s 2009 “Person of the Year.” However, he does not completely claim the original idea.

He said a twist of fate landed the epiphany in the minds and hearts of both him and the coordinator of the Miami County house at about the same time last year.

“We were on the same page at the same time; we just opened ours first,” he said.

Lori Warner, of Miami County, opened the Extending God’s Grace in November. Since then, the house has been a home to three families.

Warner said the idea came to her last year during a church-initiated reflection period, and said the similarity to Ockomon’s plans was divine intervention.

“We had so many similarities,” Warner said, describing a picture and sign in the two houses that unintentionally reflect one another in the two houses.

Another fate lent the circumstances this year for a second Madison County location.

Alexandria resident Eric Caldwell died in a car accident in April. The family donated his house, and the Caldwell Rescue House became the second Madison County location in August.

“We just want it to be the home for these families in need and in the midst of tragedy,” said Connie Caldwell, Eric’s mother. “It’s what he would have wanted.”

The fire house fever spread to native Andersonian Stacy Jones, of Baren County, Ky., last year after she read about the Madison County house on Facebook.

With Ockomon’s help, Janes found a county-owned two-bedroom apartment in Metcalfe County nearby that will open Oct. 9. She said she is hoping to find a house in Baren County soon.

Janes, whose father is retired from the Anderson Fire Department, is the executive director for the Baren County chapter of the American Red Cross. She said she has seen the downside of being able to provide only three or four days of hotel vouchers.

“A lot of times they have to stay with their families if they can (after the hotel vouchers run out) or pay for more nights, but not everyone has even that option,” she said about the standard Red Cross procedure. “It’s hard sometimes.”

All of the fire rescue houses provide up to two weeks for fire victims. As Ockomon puts it, the houses provide a place where “we do all the thinking for you.”

The house coordinators provide linens, toothbrushes, clothes for all family members, cooking supplies, food vouchers, and almost every other daily life necessity.

They also work with local real estate agents to aid in finding new homes for those whose houses or apartments cannot be restored.

Annette and Barry Hornbeck, of Anderson, were the most recent family to stay at the Anderson house. The couple lived in the house for two weeks following an electrical fire that destroyed their living room, and caused smoke damage throughout.

“They give you time to gather yourself and sort of figure out which direction you’re going,” Annette Hornbeck, 49, said.

Hornbeck said she had known about the house, but never dreamed she’d need it. Along with a stay, the Madison County Fire Rescue House also funded an overnight veterinarian stay for their chihuahua “Sarah.”

The Hornbecks joined the previous temporary residents in penning in a journal. It’s one of two traditions that have developed in the past year.

“It’s therapeutic,” Ockomon said. “They’ll journal about their fire and about their stay.”

The other tradition is a hand-made blanket that a local Andersonian makes for the families to take with them when they leave for their restored home or their new residence.

Most of the services at the rescue houses are donated from the local communities, though the coordinators said it is sometimes difficult to retain volunteers.

Hornbeck said she and her husband intend to fill that void.

“The best thing that someone can give me is their time,” Ockomon said.

With a fan-base of more than 1,000 on Facebook and a website in the works, Ockomon said it’s only a matter of working the networks of the current houses to make his dream of national fire rescue houses a reality.

“It’s a blessing,” Ockomon said. “It’s a simple idea that we came up with, and it’s just taking off.””

Contact Christina M. Wright, 640-4883, christina.wright@heraldbulletin.com.