KIDDER, MO -
A metro soldier and his family lost everything after a fire gutted their home, just three weeks before Christmas.
The fire destroyed the Kidder, Missouri home on Tuesday night. Fortunately, neither Staff Sgt. Charlie Sloan nor his family was home at the time of the fire. Sloan was spending the night at the National Guard Armory in Kansas City while his wife and three kids decided to spend that night with their grandparents.
"There's just nothing there, it's just hollow," said Sloan's wife, Penny. "That's kind of how I feel is just hollow."
Charlie Sloan says that he still has not come back to see the damage for himself.
"I just want to wait, till I'm sure I'm by myself and no one sees me break down, if I do," said Charlie Sloan, who retired from active duty in the mid-1990's but re-enlisted in the Missouri National Guard following 9/11.
On Tuesday, his buddies told him that he was being deployed overseas as a prank.
"One minute, I thought I was deploying," said Sgt. Sloan. "The next minute I get a call that my house had burned to the ground, and that part I believed. I believed it all."
"The guys here, the same day, had already taken up a collection for me," said Sgt. Sloan.
"There are lots of people reaching out, and I thank them," said Penny Sloan.
The house in rural Missouri a little more than an hour north of Kansas City burned to the foundation because firefighters never responded. The Sloan's closest neighbor is two miles away, and no one saw the smoke. It's now believed that the fire started Tuesday night and kept on burning until Penny Sloan showed up Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighter aren't sure what sparked the blaze, but they say it apparently started under one of the children's bed. The Missouri National Guard is collecting household items for the family.
"I hadn't comprehended that it was burned yet because it was at a distance," said Penny Sloan. "My first reaction was 'Who stole my house?'"
The Sloan's belongings, including baby pictures of their three children, are gone forever. But Charlie Sloan remains stoic over the situation.
"I really think the biggest thing, is I keep reminding myself, hey no one got hurt," he said.
"We've got our family and that's the most important thing," said Penny Sloan. "Everything else can be replaced."
To help the Sloan family, contact Cherie Congour, Family Readiness Group Leave Coordinator for 1-138th Infantry, at (816) 868-2362, or via email at congour@att.net.
The fire destroyed the Kidder, Missouri home on Tuesday night. Fortunately, neither Staff Sgt. Charlie Sloan nor his family was home at the time of the fire. Sloan was spending the night at the National Guard Armory in Kansas City while his wife and three kids decided to spend that night with their grandparents.
"There's just nothing there, it's just hollow," said Sloan's wife, Penny. "That's kind of how I feel is just hollow."
Charlie Sloan says that he still has not come back to see the damage for himself.
"I just want to wait, till I'm sure I'm by myself and no one sees me break down, if I do," said Charlie Sloan, who retired from active duty in the mid-1990's but re-enlisted in the Missouri National Guard following 9/11.
On Tuesday, his buddies told him that he was being deployed overseas as a prank.
"One minute, I thought I was deploying," said Sgt. Sloan. "The next minute I get a call that my house had burned to the ground, and that part I believed. I believed it all."
"The guys here, the same day, had already taken up a collection for me," said Sgt. Sloan.
"There are lots of people reaching out, and I thank them," said Penny Sloan.
The house in rural Missouri a little more than an hour north of Kansas City burned to the foundation because firefighters never responded. The Sloan's closest neighbor is two miles away, and no one saw the smoke. It's now believed that the fire started Tuesday night and kept on burning until Penny Sloan showed up Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighter aren't sure what sparked the blaze, but they say it apparently started under one of the children's bed. The Missouri National Guard is collecting household items for the family.
"I hadn't comprehended that it was burned yet because it was at a distance," said Penny Sloan. "My first reaction was 'Who stole my house?'"
The Sloan's belongings, including baby pictures of their three children, are gone forever. But Charlie Sloan remains stoic over the situation.
"I really think the biggest thing, is I keep reminding myself, hey no one got hurt," he said.
"We've got our family and that's the most important thing," said Penny Sloan. "Everything else can be replaced."
To help the Sloan family, contact Cherie Congour, Family Readiness Group Leave Coordinator for 1-138th Infantry, at (816) 868-2362, or via email at congour@att.net.
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