March 21--TROY, Ill. -- Anne Herrin lost nearly all her belongings in a house fire here Thursday morning, but her family was thankful after firefighters went into the charred home and retrieved an urn containing the ashes of her late husband.
He died three months ago of pancreatic cancer, and his ornate wooden urn was on a mantel.
"Firefighters brought the urn out after most of the commotion was over," said Herrin's stepmother, Wilma Bond of Edwardsville. "It has a little damage, but the firemen were so good about that. They were so humane and they found it."
At about 5 a.m., Herrin, her college-student daughter, Courtney, and Courtney's boyfriend were awakened by an explosion in the garage. They scrambled to safety, managing to round up their three dogs and one of their two cats from the home at 31 Stonebrooke.
But the urn containing the ashes of James Herrin was left behind. Once the flames were doused, fire crews retrieved the urn and found the body of the second cat, Ethel, in the basement. The family retrieved a few photos, too.
Meanwhile, the family can't believe the misfortune.
"We loved Jimmie and he fought pancreatic cancer for nine months, and he died Dec. 20," Bond said. "Horrible, horrible. And, in fact, my husband and I are still reverberating from this. We can't believe this would happen in three months. We've been so proud of Annie because she's such a trouper in all of this."
Bond has set up the Anne Herrin Benefit fund at any U.S. Bank. Bond said she hopes it can help the family start to rebuild and address any costs that insurance won't cover.
"What do you do when you start from scratch?" Bond asked. "You have a pair of pajamas, period."
Courtney Herrin, 20, is a student at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. She lost her computer and all of her school books in the fire.
"We're kinda taking it the way it goes," she said. "It's tragedy after tragedy, but we're trying to get through it."
The family, and the urn, were at a neighbor's home Thursday afternoon and probably will stay with Bond and Herrin's father, Jack Butler, in Edwardsville for the time being. The Red Cross provided assistance with immediate needs.
Copyright 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
