The faint smell of smoke fills the air. The garage door opens and fire bursts out, junior Keenan Schrack’s dad yells at the family to run away from the burning home. They grab their dog and watch as the piercing sound of sirens plays and red emergency lights paint the neighborhood.
The last thing Keenan Schrack expects after coming home from spending quality time with his grandparents. As a result of a gas canister falling off a shelf in the summer heat, Schrack’s house burst into flames. Following the house fire in 2021, Schrack and his family underwent numerous challenges to return to their normal lives.
“The house fire has put me in places I don’t want to be in mentally,” Schrack said. “It’s put a lot of stress on my family, and [the impact it’s had on my parents] has been obvious.”
Shortly after the fire, Schrack’s family turned to their insurance company for aid in the recovery process, despite being victims of the obvious catastrophe, the insurance proved to be uncooperative. The constant change in environments left Schrack questioning if his situation would improve, and the sleepless nights affected his performance in school.
“On top of the mental aspect, the fire has put me in bad places physically,” Schrack said. “The rental houses sucked, they weren’t clean and the mattress they gave me had diseases on it.”
After months of back-and-forth with insurance claims, they finally reached a final agreement and had repairs made to their house. Although the repairs will eventually prove to be detrimental, as the lack of professionalism from the hired repair workers leads to further damage to the house. Coming home from a friend’s house, Schrack opens his front door and discovers his entire first floor flooded with water at about knee-high length. He quickly grabs his dog, again, struggling to stay afloat and calls his dad for assistance.
“The whole situation has taught me to be wary of who I trust,” Schrack said. “I genuinely believed that the insurance company would help us get back on our feet, but realistically, they made our situation so much worse.”
After bringing Schrack’s dog to safety, junior Camdyn Riggs, a close friend, helped Schrack clear his house from water before help arrived. Despite the obvious hardships Schrack and his family experienced, Schrack has had a firm foundation of support from close friends and family.
“Knowing his situation, I called my dad to help as much as we could,” Riggs said. “I wanted to let him know that they were more than welcome to stay at my family’s house.”
Recovering from the fire and flood, Schrack learned to play the guitar and roller-skated with his friends to return to his normal life.
“The situation sucked,” Schrack said, “but at the end of the day, I’m just grateful that my family and dog are safe, and that my life has returned to normal.”
