Dave,
What media conglomerate owns the Seattle Times. From a distance it has seemed that the Seattle Post Inteligencer (is that the correct name?) is actually reasonable in reporting facts. If the Reichert piece is indicative, I’m not sure the times can make the same claim.

Ohhhhhh. Sad.

Hey!

I hate to even bring this up but….

Is there any ’suspicious’ nature to the cause of this fire? Or is it too soon to know?

This is a real shame. I’m glad her family is okay – that’s the most important thing.

((((((((((((((((((((((Darcy and Family))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

I’m so sorry for their loss.

Hugs,
Heather

And {{{{{{Darcy and Family}}}}}

(((((((((((((((((Darcy)))))))))))))))))

(((((((((((((Family)))))))))))

(((((((((((((Dog and Cat))))))))))))

(((((Darcy!)))))

I just contributed to her campaign last night.

Bob in HI

I’m glad they’re ok. How scary. (((Burner family)))

I’m so sorry for the Burner family, but…I know three families who lost their homes in our SoCal wildfires last fall. Fortunately, they were well insured, as I presume the Burners are. They are all fine now, the things things they miss the most are teddy bears, photos, keepsakes. They are all delighted that they get to redesign their homes in ways that make them more livable and more updated.

Just a thought on the good side…

(((Burner Family)))

A lost like that is so terrible on so many levels. God keep the Burner family.

Glad the family is alright.. Hope the kitty is too.

Oh and welcome blog home, David. Hope we get to see some fabulous video soon. *g*

dakine01, the Seattle Times is actually locally owned. The owners are primary funders of efforts to repeal the estate tax (along with the Nordstroms).

The PI is corporately owned, by Hearst. They are generally the more liberal paper, oddly enough. The two papers share advertising, but have had legal disputes about their joint operating agreement.

Finally, it used to be the PI was the morning paper, and the Times was the afternoon paper, but they are both morning papers now. I think both are reasonable in terms of news, the Times is irritating for its politics at times, but the same is true for the PI (neither is all that liberal, but the PI is more so. I think they are followers of public opinion, not leaders).

I was curious mainly because I’ve seen some PI editorials that seemed that they “get it” on things like FISA and such.

Those JOAs can be a god send or a PITA depending on the way they’re implemented.

What a relief to know the family made it out okay. I join with those sending out positive thoughts and encouragement to the family.

Nordstrom wants to repeal the estate tax? Shopping can be good…

My sincere condolences to Darcy and her Family…! 8-(

Jeeze, that sux wet monkey butt.

Horrible loss.
My thoughts and prayers for Darcy and he family.

just when we were getting somewhere up here.

Now I see that Creep Dino Rossi is making noises about being Governor again, shudder.

I should mention that McClatchy (formerly Knight Ridder) owns 49.5% of the Times stock, and McClatchy is a pretty darn fine newspaper company in my opinion. It is really a difference of the editorial choices of each paper. Both have done rather great work on the investigative front (sporadic, but they serve up some really good stuff once in a while).

The PI has Horsey, who is pretty spot-on a lot of the time in the cartoon department.

In any event, I read them both every day, and the differences are rather minor, almost all based on editorials and local op-eds.

Bummer. A fire is a catastrophe. Hope the kitty and all family and any pets are okay. Everything else, let’s face it, is ultimately replaceable. (I say, with experience, my apartment crisping to the ground years ago. Lost a decade of vinyl. Books. Things that took me years to stop looking for them.) On the plus side, statistically, Darcy has had her fire, and can rest easy on that fear.

Thank goodness the family is safe, what a tragedy.

Can’t even imagine the loss and grief.

It’s a good time for each of us to review our family disaster plans. Remind the kids -and the grownups, too- what to do, and what not to do, if a fire strikes.

It’s a good time for each of us to review our family disaster plans. Remind the kids -and the grownups, too- what to do, and what not to do, if a fire strikes.

Get out. No stopping for valuables. Family out. Pets out if possible. Forget everything else till the fire department comes.

Ian Welsh with some news, upstairs!
Joining FDL As the Evenings and Weekend Editor

So sorry for Darcy and her family (especially the cat, since they don’t seem sure yet about the cat) because I can relate to the trauma due to experiencing my own fire. Hope she didn’t lose some irreplaceable stuff, like family pictures, etc. But I can also tell you from experience that if she’s got homeowners insurance, and if she had the house insured properly, ultimately she will be fine.

In my own case, my house got a complete remodel and I got to be in the drivers seat. I got to pick colors, change flooring from mediocre carpeting to ceramic tile, custom paint job, vaulted ceiling in my living room, put a linen closet in my bathroom, all new cabinetry, all new energy efficient appliances. More importantly, all new city codes established since my house was built in the early 1970s were updated (asbestos removed, aluminum wiring, which caused the fire changed out, etc.) Plus, any losses of furniture were replaced with new paid for by the insurance company. Plus they paid the rent for a place to stay while I was dispossessed of my home (I continued to pay the house payments.)

All in all, it was the trauma of being dispossessed that was hard, but after all was said and done, I was better off afterward than I was before because I had all new stuff that cost me nothing. Still, you can’t replace the kitty so I’m very much hoping that member of the family turns out to be okay too. Then she will have lots to be thankful for.

Sincere sympathies to Darcy and her family; as a cat lover, I’m truly sorry for the loss but glad Bruce Wayne made it out ok.

Smoke detectors went off but fire was so enlarged there was nothing to do but flee makes it sound like there was an accelerant somewhere:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_accelerant

Hopefully, it wasn’t arson.

Supposedly faulty wiring:
http://tpmelectioncentral.talk….._house.php

Wiring fires can be nasty; they can be cheerfully burning the roof off before they get into the rest of the structure. I hope something can be set up for donations, because insurance will probably not cover all of it.

(We had a branch library near us go that way. It was in the middle of the day: the fire station was literally down the block, and they saved most of the books. In the irony department, half of the building had originally been a fire station. It was rebuilt on the existing foundation, after the neighborhood made it clear that putting the replacement two miles away wasn’t going to fly.)