Elderly Yuba City Couple's Historic Farmhouse Burns Down
YUBA CITY (CBS13) – At 80-years-old, Phil and Nancy Crowe are forced to think about their future in a whole new way after a fire burned down their historic farmhouse.
"You're just watching it, and that's it. You can't; it's hard," Phil said.
Photos taken by the fire department show the Crowes' Yuba City home of almost 50 years up in flames. The elderly couple is now forced to stay with friends as they try and piece together what little they have left.
"If we were back in our 20's when we lived in Berkeley, we would look at it as a start of another great adventure. But now, not so much," Phil said.
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The devastating fire started just before midnight last Saturday while Nancy and Phil were getting ready for bed.
The Crowes say the extremely warm weather we've had recently forced them to break out a portable air conditioning unit for the first time since moving into the home. But within minutes they started smelling smoke.
"I went and asked her 'do you smell anything' and she said no. It wasn't more than five minutes later I went back again and it was arcing like crazy," Phil said.
Flames from the a/c unit quickly engulfed the more than 130-year-old farmhouse-style home – the old wood frame like fuel to the fire.
"I kept bringing buckets of water as much as I could carry and it wasn't doing anything, the fire just kept going," Nancy said.
The Crowes barely made it out in time with just the clothes they were wearing.
Phil suffered some burns on his arms. But the home where they raised their three kids and made five decades worth of memories was lost.
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"If there is any lesson that comes out of this, and if you have photographs that you cherish, put your stuff on the cloud," Phil said.
Now this couple who had planned to live out the rest of their lives in their longtime home must now find a new one.
"You've got memories of everyday life and they go on and on," Phil said. "It was the center of our life, we've been there a long time."
Family members have set up a GoFundMe account for Nancy and Phil. If you would like to donate, head here: http://www.gofundme.com/x29mps.
