Staff writer
A road and bridge employee, who only has worked for the department for three weeks, recently lost everything he and his family owned after a fire consumed the trailer they were living in.
“We just pulled up to the house, and I saw smoke so I knew it was on fire,” road and bridge culvert worker James Bronson said, “so I called 911.”
The family was living in the trailer on A Rd. near Burns while waiting to build their own home, and it burned to where nothing was salvageable. The only thing left after the fire were the clothes on their backs.
Bronson estimated it took firefighters an hour and a half to get the blaze out.
Bronson, his wife, Destany, and their 18-month-old daughter, Katie, are now living with family while they try to put the pieces back together.
At Monday’s commission meeting, road and bridge employee Larry Cushenbery brought up the accident, asking if there was anything commissioners could do to help the Bronson family in their time of need.
“We don’t really have any sort of program,” clerk Tina Spencer said, “but if there’s employees want to help out that’s something that could happen.”
Commissioners voted to allow Bronson five paid days vacation, since he was a new employee, to use within 30 days in order to help give him time to get things together.
“If he has something he has to take care of,” commissioner Randy Dallke said, “it has to be for a justifiable reason. It’s not just personal time off.”
Cushenbery said the road and bridge department will also be accepting donations of clothes and money for the Bronson family. Sizes are available by calling the Road and Bridge department at (620) 382-3761.