Portrait of US Issue #29: Michael and Deb - Casselberry, Fl
"There's the bad part where it burns it down, but then there's the renewal."
It’s hard to imagine what we would do if we lost everything to a fire. We can always speculate to what we might try and save, and what might be irreplaceable. We met with Deb and Michael at their home in Casselberry, FL. We made their photo in the backyard before sitting down and doing the interview because the light was already starting to fade into the evening. Their story is about the very home we were sitting in.
Growing up, I had always been afraid of fires, and of what would happen if our home were to burn down. It kept me up as a young kid in our first house in Seattle. I would constantly ask my mom to tell me it would be OK and to tell me that the house would not burn - I don’t know if she remembers that as much as she remembers my inability and unwillingness to go to bed. When we moved to the U-District when I was 7 or 8, we had moved into a brick house and I remember thinking we would be safer from a fire in a brick house.
Around this time, a family friend of ours lost their home to a fire. They lost almost everything and came and lived with us for awhile. Their daughter stayed in my room with me - being an only child, I remember this very distinctly because I never had to share a room before. I remember driving by their home and seeing the chard siding and the roof open to the Seattle rain.
Michael and Deb’s story gives us a small insight into what might happen if we were to lose our home to a fire. Starting from the “dream-like” disbelief and all the logistical things like where to live and how to rebuild. Listen to their story below.
Portrait of US is a reader/viewer/listener supported publication and project.
We love what we are doing, and this project is important. Here are a few ways to help us out financially:
Patreon Subscribers have access to a lot of behind the scenes photos and weekly updates. Our Patreon community is close knit and one of our favorite places to share our day to day experiences, it also offers the most flexibility in terms of how much support to give.
Paid Subscribers here on Substack have a few benefits including downloadable print ready zines, and our entire archive of Issues going back to the end of 2022.
Our new Zine is available for purchase on our website for $25 shipped in the continental US (international shipping available).
Michael: Michael Nispel
Deb: and I'm Debra Nispel and we're in Casselberry, Florida. Yeah. So back in…
Michael: 2016, we were all out of the house. My son and I, we had taken a trip down to South Florida to see my parents and spend a weekend with them and kind of give Debbie a free weekend.
Deb: I was getting a massage.
Michael: The next thing I know I'm getting a phone call from…
Deb: Well, I got the phone call first, right, didn't I? No. Oh, no, you got the phone call.
Michael: “Hi, this is Officer So and So from Casselberry Police Department. Your house is on fire.”
I'm thinking, Yeah, right. I just kind of hung up. He calls right back.
“Yeah Mr. Nispel, this is Officer So and So. We're On scene at your house, the fire department is here, your house is on fire.”
My son gets a call from his friend who happened to live right across the cul de sac, and I could see through his eyes and his reaction that the conversation I was having was authentic.
I had this old beat up car that needed radiator work, and I had to keep stopping, like every... 10 or 15 miles to add coolant to the reservoir. We're in this hurry to get back from South Florida and what should have taken about three and a half hours took about four and a half to five hours because we had to keep stopping.
Deb: I was getting a massage and my phone kept blowing up and I'm just ignoring it. Then when I finished, I see I have all these messages, and one of them is from my neighbor saying it looks like you have a little fire going on over there.
I was the first to arrive. Our white fluffy dog was full of soot, she was black, and the neighbors were holding her in their arms. It was just like a dream.
I couldn't even park on the street because of all the fire engines and the emergency equipment. We have such great neighbors and they just embraced us and took us in. We lived in transition for about a year and a half.
It was an electrical fire and it was in the wall and it stayed kind of localized. Unfortunately, we had all our family movies right in that spot. I was religious about it being a photographer. Capturing everything on video. We had all of them in a cabinet that was right there and just went up like that.
We wound up moving into an apartment in Sanford and we stayed there and it created a lot of tension. We were crammed into a two bedroom apartment where we had this house before. We were out of our element. We didn't have our neighbors, friends and we got into a lot of fights.
Divorce was mentioned. Probably every week, if not every night.
It really tried us. It really put us to the test, but there were good things that came out of it too like with every fire. There's the bad part where it burns it down, but then there's the renewal. It took some time though to adjust and, and to get back to a level of comfortability again.
We always talk about life before the fire and after the fire.
Michael: There's still items that sometimes I just vividly remember having and using, and then I'll ask Debra, “What happened to so and so?” and she's like, “that was lost in the fire.” Sometimes I just feel like I just used it.
Deb: I just feel like life continuously just hits you with things and you just have to keep getting back up and just keep marching forward. I just couldn't have imagined what it had been like to go through something like this, but you go through it and you just keep going.
It just makes you stronger.