By Kevin Barlow
The Pantagraph
ARROWSMITH, Ill. — For the Hisle family of rural Arrowsmith, finding treasured family jewelry in the rubble of their burned-out house was just one way good came out of a terrible situation.
“I have no words to describe what everyone has meant to us,” said Leo Hisle. “It’s overwhelming. It’s priceless. It’s a blessing.”
The fire began June 10 when Leo Hisle heard a loud noise while relaxing at home alone. He thought it was just the wind.
“I was home and heard something and couldn’t figure out what it was at first,” he said.
His wife, Amy, was out enjoying a spa day with their daughter, Danielle — also known as D.J. — who had flown home from Georgia to celebrate Amy’s June 9 birthday.
Leo soon realized the 100-year-old, two-story home off of Illinois 9 was on fire, and there wasn’t time to do much about it.
Leo described the next few hours as “chaotic,” and in the end there was nothing left of the home despite firefighters’ efforts. No people were hurt, but only two of several family pets were saved.
D.J. and Amy returned home and more relatives and friends soon arrived to provide comfort and whatever help they could. D.J. and several of her friends began to hunt for whatever could be saved.
“It’s not easy to get your brain around what has happened,” Leo said. “But she and her friends quickly made it their mission to make something good out of something bad.”
Even while firefighters were watching over the smoldering rubble, D.J. and her friends went to where her parents’ bedroom once stood in search of the jewelry her mother had removed before heading to the spa that morning, including her wedding ring.
“It was like searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack,” Leo said. “There was nothing left of the house, but they went searching for that jewelry.”
After more than two hours of sifting through ashes and dust, they found five pieces of jewelry, including Amy’s wedding ring, an anniversary ring and the couple’s class rings.
“It was a miracle,” Leo said. “It’s amazing how something like that can bring you happiness after something so bad.”
A local jeweler with no connection to the family offered to repair the rings at no charge. A representative from Jostens, which makes class rings and other school memorabilia, offered to repair the class rings, also at no charge.
The fire showed the family how people, particularly from a small, rural community, will step up in a time of need, Leo said.
The couple, who now live with Amy’s mother a few miles away, still don’t have a cause for the fire, but they are grateful for the help they have received while the house is being rebuilt.
“We are overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone who has come to the house to search in the debris for personal belongings or bringing food and clothing over to Mom’s,” Amy said. “We have been blessed and shocked by the amount of support we have received.”
Leo said the couple takes it day by day, but having something like the rings saved means so much.
Copyright 2017 The Pantagraph