After a fire that destroyed their business and their home, two men are finding the silver lining among the smoky debris.
When they first heard the smoke alarm, Doug Stacy went downstairs and found flames taller than him.
Upstairs, Don Stayner soon found himself trapped by smoke.
Five more minutes, Stacy said, and it would have been too late.
Now, 11 days after they escaped the fire, Stacy and Stayner have already made tremendous headway toward rebuilding their home and their business, ArtFx Gallery, 420 N. 35th St.
"It's not a success story of saving our lives; saving our lives is an incidental thing. But we are looking at this in the most positive means. This is not even going to put a dent in what has been," Stacy said. "This is a story of hope and continued success. We are counting our many blessings, and many of those blessings are here like hidden treasures hidden among the fire."
MUCH TO GAIN
Despite their losses, Stacy and Stayner couldn't stop expressing their gratitude for not only for their safety, but for the immense amount of support and help they've received from the community.
"This is the interesting part of this: We had a tragic loss, but we have gained so much out of this that we never would've seen if this hadn't happened," Stayner said. "The way the community has pitched in, I'm just awestruck by it. Every day, someone stops by and asks, 'What can I do to help.' It's very emotional; I just can't tell you how amazed we are by the way the community has responded."
Aside from the community support, Stacy and Stayner also wanted to reiterate the importance of updating the electrical systems of old buildings such as theirs, and also to replace extension cords every two years. The fire started when their 12-year-old extension cord shorted out.
One of their neighbors, Kirby Lindsay, offered her home for Stacy and Stayner to stay in until the rebuilding is completed.
Offers like Lindsay's continue to astound Stacy and Stayner.
"It's been like an outpouring of love, of help. The graciousness and generosity are just abounding," Stacy said.
Lindsay, who has known Stacy and Stayner for eight years, said when she saw the smoke pouring out of ArtFx it was terrifying.
"Whenever I hear fire engines I usually just wait until they continue past the house, but they stopped this time. When I saw their house. it was terrifying," Lindsay said. "We all think the world of Doug and Don, and we're very very glad they're still here and that they're going to be here."
HELPING TO HEAL
As a 101-year-old historic building, the chances of it being torn down after the fire would have seemed the most likely solution, but the Stacy and Stayner's landlord said he would help rebuild the gallery with them.
Chris Webb's decision surprised Lindsay, but in the best way possible.
"It's big for [Stacy and Stayner]; it's big for the community. All the time, we hear about buildings in the neighborhood being torn down. In this case, it's almost shocking that Chris didn't decide that, but this is real great for the community. I think it will help everybody heal, too," Lindsay said.
Webb, who has been alongside Stacy and Stayner putting up sheet rock and carrying out debris, sounded a little surprised at how much gratitude Stacy, Stayner and the neighbors have for his decision.
"It's just kind of sad. The guys worked so hard to establish themselves in the community over there. The building is really one of the last remnants of Fremont," Webb said. "When they talked to me about rebuilding, I just figured, what the hey? Let's make it happen."
Webb also said he has been amazed by how the community is helping Stacy and Stayner, which he said testifies that the basic nature of Fremont is alive and well.
"I'm so pleased with the way the community responded. I hope we continue to give them the support they've earned. Doug and Don are central to the community, to the artistic community, and we will continue to support them," Lindsay said.
RESTORED FAITH
Currently, Stacy and Stayner work long days to bring their gallery back to the neighborhood. And they said they can't thank Webb or the neighborhood enough for the gifts they've been given.
"It's been a very emotional roller coaster. Of course, it's been tragic and it's been sad, but my faith in humanity has been restored," Stayner said.
Stayner also said they will probably recover 80 percent of the ceramics and sculptures, but all the paintings and print materials were lost.
But another silver lining they mentioned was that their upstairs living quarters suffered mostly from smoke damage and will just take months of cleaning to get back to normal, an idea Stayner said sounds really appealing.
"The best way to put it is we'd like to be back to normal. When your life is all tumbled up you kind of realize how much normal is appealing, just to have your routines back," Stayner said.
When the gallery reopens Stacy said they plan to put up the kitchen clock that had melted off the wall and stopped at 11:18 a.m. as a memento of the fire.
"We want everybody to know to look at the positive in all of this. And mainly what we want everybody to know is we're working as fast as we can to be open and running as fast as we can - not because we're losing money, but because we want to get back to supporting the 100 artists we were supporting," Stacy said.
"We've learned to look at the small things and see what good we really have among us," he added.
Stacy and Stayner plan to have the gallery opened by Labor Day, or shortly after. With the community's help and the owners' dedication, this appears very likely for the ArtFx gallery.[[In-content Ad]]
