Community support

Raft Creek farmers Lynne and Susan Steadman were away from their home visiting family when they heard the news that first the garage, then the whole house had caught fire. Devastated that their home burned to the ground, the Steadman’s did receive tremendous support from the neighbors in their farm community.

“They tell me we weren't here, but when the fire was raging, you could hardly find a parking place in this whole big area because so many people, the neighbors were here wanting to help, wanting to do anything they could. My biggest fear from a long distance, being told a little bit here and there about what was going on, was somebody was going to get crazy and try to save something out of the house and end up injured. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The neighbors have been amazing. There's also a story about somebody driving by on the freeway, seeing the smoke. And he pulled up here and he couldn't get very close to the house so that somebody's seen him running towards the house, wanting to know how he could help. And him, along with several other close neighbors, broke down the front door and did save a few items out of the house, including a curio cabinet that she's admired for many years. Gave me. Yeah. Anyway, but just the support and the help from neighbors. A lot of this equipment you see in the yard that's helping us clean up this stuff, neighbors have either brought over or loaned to us.” It takes a village, a farm village.