Butte family seeks help rebuilding after house fire

PALMER — Kathryn Derendinger knows more than most people about the patchwork of agencies that form the social safety net in the Mat-Su Borough.

She earned an associate’s degree in 2012 and a bachelor’s in human services with a minor in psychology in 2013. As part of that coursework, Derendinger also has worked for several Valley non-profits.

School taught her a lot about the various means of assistance. She knows about the United Way, about Family Promise Mat-Su, the Knik House, Salvation Army, housing vouchers and welfare.

But thus far, none of the agencies in the Valley’s social safety net have been able to help Kathryn, 54, and her husband of 24 years, Jon Derendinger, 61. There’s always a reason — they make too much money, they live in the wrong part of the Mat-Su Borough, or, all the beds available are already filled.

It’s frustrating, Derendinger said.

“I know all the resources out here,” she wrote in an email asking the Frontiersman to share their story. “That’s the field I am in. I’ve been told my husband makes too much. The resources I have called cannot help because we live in Palmer, and other resources I was told to call have never returned my calls, and trust me, I have been calling.”

‘It’s a day I will never forget’

They ate bacon and eggs at their cozy Maud Road home that Saturday morning before heading to the Palmer Lions Club gun show at Raven Hall.

Kathryn brought her schoolwork and computer and sat in the truck and worked while Jon browsed and mingled inside.

“He knows lots of people,” she said.

Afterward, the couple stopped to pick up a few groceries before heading out the Old Glenn toward home. They turned in the driveway about 5:15 p.m., March 7.

“It’s a day I will never forget,” Kathryn said.

She didn’t see the fire, she just heard her husband yell “fire, call 911,” before he jumped out of the still-moving truck.

Kathryn called 911 and followed the dispatcher’s instructions to wait at the end of the driveway to wave in the firefighters.

Meanwhile, Jon did what he could to fight the fire. But he couldn’t keep it from spreading.

The responders on scene said it was arson. They said that someone had dug under the edge of their house and set a fire.

“No one ever expects it,” she said of the fire. “You don’t expect someone to come and do something to your house.”

‘Some things you can’t get back’

Jon purchased the property in 1985, shortly after moving to Alaska in 1982 to work for the Laborers’ union. But they didn’t build their house until 2008.

They paid for the construction out of pocket, but when the work was done, Kathryn said they couldn’t find an insurance company that would cover the house with a woodstove as the primary heat source.

“My sister was killed. Those pictures are gone,” Kathryn said. “Some things you can’t get back.”

They are ordinary, hardworking people who live paycheck to paycheck, she said.

With the worst of winter likely past, the Derendingers say their plan is to salvage what they can from their home. And then make repairs as they can afford the work.

“It’s like camping out. A little cold, but like camping out,” she said of the more than three weeks the couple and their dog have lived in the cab of their 1995 GMC pickup.

They use public restrooms to brush their teeth and wash up as best they can. It’s been weeks since they’ve been able to shower, Kathryn said, weeks since they slept in a warm bed with a roof over their heads.

How to help

The Red Cross put them up at the Eagle Hotel for a few days, but since then, they’ve been camping around the Butte area.

It will take considerable labor and building materials to repair their Maud Road home to a safely habitable state. The fire burned through the subflooring, melting the water pipes and damaging electrical wiring, she said. All of the windows are gone, and there are tarps covering the hole in the roof where firefighters vented the blaze.

Although Jon is a retired Laborer with years of building experience, he has severe rheumatoid arthritis, which affects the mobility in his hands and legs, Kathryn said.

The couple has set up a donation account at Matanuska Federal Credit Union and a gofundme page to accept donations. But so far, the accounts are collecting more dust than cash.

“I’ve always been on the helping end before,” Kathryn said.

When this difficult chapter is past, she said she plans to finish her master’s degree and go to work reinforcing the Mat-Su Borough safety net to spare others this struggle. For now, her education is on hold while she looks for work to help support the family and fund the rebuilding effort.

Kathryn said the Valley needs better options than suggesting people leave their husbands in order to meet the income guidelines for welfare help. She said that’s all the woman in the welfare office could suggest to help since Jon’s $1,350 union pension was too much to qualify the family of two for assistance.

“We’re starting basically from scratch,” Kathryn said.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.