The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Rudy Theis (holding daughter, Kenley), Alexis Theis (holding son, Rory), and daughter, Blakely, lost their farm home in rural Carrington to a fire in early February. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help support the Theis family at this time.
On early Sunday morning, February 12, the farm house of Rudy and Alexis Theis, located four miles north and four miles east of Carrington in Estabrook Township, went up in flames. With it, many memories, along with much of their material possessions, were lost to either fire or smoke damage.
Fortunately for the family, neither Rudy, Alexis, or their three children, daughter, Blakely (3), son, Rory (2), or daughter, Kenley (seven months), were in the house at the time of the fire.
Carrington Fire and Rescue was dispatched to the farm at 7130 7th St. N.E. at 12:43 a.m. that day, and fought the fire for much of the early morning hours.
"Fire was found in the basement, and had burned through the main level floor and ceiling and through the rafters, and migrated to both the east and west walls," said Fire Chief Ken Wangen.
The entire house suffered heavy smoke damage, with structural damage to the basement ceiling and living room main floor.
Initial knock down and control occurred within 30-40 minutes of arrival on scene. The CF&R chiefs held the scene, helped the state fire marshal investigate the cause, and left the scene later that afternoon.
Wangen said that the official report from the fire marshal has not been released as of yet, but the fire was deemed accidental.
Additional agencies to respond to the scene included the Foster County Sheriff's Department, and CHI St. Alexius Health Carrington EMS provided standby on the call.
The tragedy has displaced the five, but Rudy's dad, Bobbie Joe, and his wife, Dawn Theis, have offered their home just east of Rudy and Alexis's farm for the time being while the next steps in rebuilding the young couple's house are being considered and undertaken.
Alexis's sister, Miranda Becker, set up a GoFundMe page on February 23 to assist with donations for the family's ongoing expenses as they work to put their lives back together.
As of Wednesday, March 1, $3,470 has been raised from 47 donors, well past the initial $1,000 goal, but the Theis's are grateful for any financial help they receive.
The family's page can be found by clicking the search button on the top left of the http://www.gofundme.com home page, and typing in "Theis" within the "Search for fundraisers" bar. The page, marked "Theis family", will be found on the left.
