PUBLISHER’S NOTEBOOK: Five little girls

Five little girls is the story that nobody wants to cover, but every news organization in the region has to. Thursday morning Sept. 7 started as another beautiful day in the Mat-Su Valley. As we all headed out to start our day we had no idea that tragedy was developing in a small trailer park in the Butte. Well, everybody except those who responded to the call of a fire that was engulfing an old, single-wide trailer where neighbors and first-responders tried frantically to save five little girls trapped inside. Their efforts were in vain. And now their father Jimmy Flores and mother Janelle Quackenbush are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.

Struggles of a young family

It’s now well documented that Jimmy and Janelle had had their struggles over the last year. The trailer they lived in was old and ripe for disaster, but with Jimmy out of work until recently and Janelle studying cosmetology at Shear Fire Academy of Hair Design, life started closing in on them. They were trying and with Janelle obtaining work as a stylist at Great Clips and Jimmy as a bus driver at First Student, things were starting to look up. It appears they were doing the best they could to provide for their family. Most of us have had struggles in our lives. Many of us have experienced having to improvise to allow both parents to work.

On this tragic day, Jimmy was at work with the family car and Janelle was taking her mother home because, as it has been reported, she needed her car that day. In that short period of time the unimaginable happened. A parent’s worst nightmare; one that most of us will never be able to understand.

The Good and bad of social media

As the various news outlets posted their stories, a vast majority of comments were of support, love, and prayers for the parents.

These words were expressed from all over Alaska and beyond. But then there were the “where were the parents?” and “I would have never left my kids alone” comments.

I have a daughter who is 11 years older than our youngest and I know she watched him for us when she was 12. We had no trepidation about leaving her alone with him and our other son, who was six years younger than her. The people who are making these comments may just be expressing their opinions but they need to put their ‘Parent of the Year’ trophies away.

What Jimmy and Janelle need in this moment is our support, our love and our understanding. There are photos on their social media pages of beautiful family moments, the girls coloring Easter eggs, mom and daughter playfully playing to the camera. Family members and friends have come forward in news articles and social media posts describing the love these young parents have and will always have for their children.

The beauty of social media and community

Today’s Frontiersman has a story of how the community is coming together to support Jimmy and Janelle and those who are racked with grief. There is a fundraiser page on Facebook set up by Jimmy’s sister, Marita Camarena.

As I am writing this, $19,825 of the $80,000 goal has been reached. You can find it on Facebook by searching for ‘5 beautiful Flores Girls Lost in House Fire’. Also, Shear Fire Design posted on its Facebook page that an account has been set up at the Mat-Valley Federal Credit Union under account number 158068.

The media frenzy will pass, but our community will rally around those who have suffered, those who responded, those who had to remove these beautiful babies from that horrific scene.

Most of all we will rally around Jimmy and Janelle. Death is hardest on the living, they need us.