A Friend Loses Everything

This past weekend I was in Rockport, TX for the Rockport Gospel Music Festival which is promoted by Gary Howard. Gary's a great friend of mine after all the years of singing down there, and on Tuesday he got a call from his son Stephen in Oklahoma City. Stephen's apartment burned and he lost everything. Instead of resting for a few days after the Festival, Gary and his wife Patty had to head to OKC to help their son.

Here's some info on the fire from KOCO-TV:

An apartment complex spokeswoman said a resident breaking apartment guidelines may be to blame. Firefighters said a propane tank exploded, something that never should have happened.

Grills and propane tanks aren't allowed at Quail Ridge, located at 13307 Plaza Terrace near May Avenue and Memorial Road. The apartment's spokeswoman said Quail Ridge employees look for them often.

Resident Joey Albin lost everything in the fire.

"There's no walls. There's no ceiling," Albin said. "You don't know what to think. Just total disbelief."

Stephen Howard and his roommate, Albin, were at the store when the fire started. When they returned, their entire building was engulfed by bright orange flames.

The terrifying moments were captured on cell-phone video just minutes before firefighters arrived.

"Computers, bed, guitars, movies, two trumpets," Howard said. "We both play trumpet. They're gone."

Albin isn't mad at whoever had the propane tank, however.

"I heard the people last night, and they lost just as much as anyone else. I'm not about to point any fingers or anything," Albin said.

They're now scrambling to try and set the boys up with a new place and replace all the stuff they lost...which is everything. I'm not sure how much, if any, insurance is available.

If you'd like to donate to help the guys out, use the donation button on my page and I'll forward the funds to Gary.  If for some reason the PayPal donation button isn't working right (it can be finicky in Explorer), just go to PayPal.com and use the "Send Money" option and send it to crimsonrvr@aol.com .