Heater fire destroys PSJ family’s home

A Port St. Joe family is homeless, but spared injury, after the explosion of an indoor-outdoor fire pit last week led to a fire that destroyed their home.

Reese Antley, who lives with wife Ashley and 9-year-old daughter Sophie Kate, in one of the two-story single-family Barefoot Cottages just west of Port St. Joe, said that the fire started on Tuesday evening, Oct. 15.

He said that he and his daughter were not home at the time, because they were doing their normal Tuesday routine of playing pickleball with members of the Windmark Beach church.

He said a business call ran late, near his daughter’s bedtime, but that Ashley encouraged them to play because of how well Sophie Kate had been doing with her schoolwork.

Ashley decided to enjoy their normal routine and sit out on the patio furniture and read, warmed by a small tabletop indoor-outdoor fire pit, that the family got for Christmas. “She added fuel back to it and it exploded and went everywhere,” Reese said. “When she hit the thing, fire shot everywhere in little blobs.”

The fire quickly spread to some surfboards as Ashley went to get the animals out, managing to save the dog’s life.

The fire departments from Port St. Joe, Highland View and the Beaches all responded, and after a 10 to 15-minute delay finding that the two nearest fire hydrants didn’t work, they extinguished the blaze, Reese said.

The fire, which had broken out sometime before 9 p.m. was then completely doused within the hour, with a couple later visits needed to put out hot spots, he said.

“It was pretty much a total loss,” said Reese, who works as vice-president of operations at Woods Fisheries. “Everything was touched by water and smoke, as the fire ripped through the house.”

One item that was untouched was Ashley’s Bible, full of notes that she had penned in over the years, which remained unscathed in the middle of a coffee table. “My wife’s and my daughter’s were on the bottom shelf,” he said. “The coffee table was still there, and they (the Bibles) had a little smut on them but no water, no direct touch at all.”

The one painful casualty of the fire was the loss of the family’s cat.

“Even though we are heartbroken that our fur baby Ginger lost her life, we praise God that the fire was contained and no other lives were taken,” said Ashley. “We thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support.”

An account to help the Antley family has been set up at Centennial Bank. In addition a GoFundMe site has been established named “Donate to Support Reese, Ashley and Sophie Kate after Devastating Loss.”