09/19/08 Redmond
A fresh start now for Kevin Smith and his daughter who lost everything in a fire earlier this week. It's their second night in their new apartment as donations contiue to pour in from all over the state.
 
Strangers are flooding Kevin Smith's phone lines. "I can't even take all the calls and answer all the voicemails I have so far," says Smith.
 
And showing up at his new aprtment with everything he needs to get back on his feet. He lost everything Tuesday after his South West Wickiup rental home in Redmond went up in flames. The fire started by a faulty light fixture in a shed next door. Since then it's been a whirlwind of strangers and friends coming forward offering to help. "I haven't even had a chance to settle in and sort through a lot of the stuff you know, now I'm just working on furniture and get electronics and stuff that I need," said Smith.
 
He's quickly gotten all the essential items he and his four year old daughter need for their daily life. Now he has furniture on the way, even a washer and dryer coming from Portland. But the biggest donation came from Medisiss-- where he works as a production technician reprocessing surgical equipment. They paid for his new apartment and provided scrubs to get him back to work. "My biggest concern now is getting back to work and getting my school done you know, being able to do that because right now i'm just at a loss I lost everything, I lost all my books," said Smith.
 
Just one step from completing real estate classes, Kevin now has to get a new laptop and replace the book he was studying. He's not worried-- he's still just glad no one was hurt and thankful for the outpouring of unexpected support that's managed to help put his and his daughter's life back together in a matter of days.
 
Now that his daughter has a lot of new toys and clothes, Kevin's trying to get his toys. He lost all his TVs, laptop computers, and DVD players.
 
If you'd like to help Kevin and his daughter he asked us to post his phone number: 706-1999. He's also set up an account at U.S. Bank.