Minooka family loses all 4 pets to house fire

A Minooka family lost all four pets in a house fire on Labor Day but is thankful for the community’s tremendous support.

Rachel Evans said she and her husband, Ryan, and their children Claire, 6, and Adeline, 2, were driving to Evans’ grandmother’s birthday party in Homer Glen on Sept. 2 when various neighbors started calling their phones and telling them their house was on fire.

Evans said the family immediately turned around and headed toward home, which was 20 minutes away.

When they arrived, Evans learned that neighbors on both sides already had opened her door, hoping the family’s pets – Winston, 8, a solid Labrador mix; Lucy, 1, a shepherd mix; Chase, 16, an orange tabby; and Leo, 10, a white cat with some gray spots – might run out.

“The fire moved really quickly,” Evans said. “Our neighbors were amazing. They risked their own health and safety to open our front door. That’s the kind of stuff you don’t forget. They tried to save our pets, but only one of the dogs came out.”

That was Winston, who was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma on his tongue at Christmas. But Winston succumbed to his smoke inhalation a week and a half later, Evans said.

“The cats – they hide when they’re scared,” she said.

Evans said Lucy was in her crate when the fire broke out because at 1 year old, she still was learning to break some bad habits.

“The hard part is that she did not have the chance to leave,” Evans said.

Evans said Claire is taking the loss of Chase especially hard.

“I got Chase in college, but once Claire got a little older, he started sleeping with her every night,” Evans said. “He was her little live stuffed animal.”

Silver lining and heroes in the tragedy

Evans is the director for the Living Room in Joliet. The Living Room is an Illinois Department of Human Services program that gives adults 24-hour, 365-day access to free emergency mental health care.

Evans said the “silver lining” for her is the “heroes in the tragedy.” The firefighters who responded were “incredibly compassionate,” Evans said.

One neighbor started a GoFundMe page for the family, Evans said. Still another neighbor called Rusty Ridge Animal Center in Minooka, and staff came out to remove the animals for cremation and to have clay paw prints made for the family for free, Evans said.

“It was so kind of them to just show up and do that,” she said.

Our neighbors were amazing. They risked their own health and safety to open our front door. That’s the kind of stuff you don’t forget.”

—  Rachel Evans of Minooka, director of the Living Room in Joliet, who lost all four pets in a house fire on Labor Day

Micayla Chow, a hospital manager at Rusty Ridge, said the animal center believes in supporting the community.

“We always try to do what we can when people are in need,” Chow said.

Chow said Rusty Ridge also set out donation cans for the Evans family at the animal center. A family member collects the donations every week or so, she said.

“We’re just happy the community has been so supportive for this family,” Chow said.

Evans said it’s unknown whether the family will return to the townhome that she and Ryan bought 10 years ago. For now, the family is trying to process the trauma and heal, Evans said.

“As animal lovers, we are fortunate that the insurance company set us up on an equestrian farm in Minooka,” Evans said. “We get to stare at horses in the backyard.”

To donate to the Support Minooka Neighbors After Tragic Fire GoFundMe page, visit gofund.me/5c86fba0.