LAKE CITY, Fla. – As the worst of the storm approaches, a Lake City couple is having flashbacks of what happened to them following a hurricane in 2023.
A husband and wife lost their house to a fire and they have one piece of advice to avoid a disaster for other people.
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Rick and Sandy Coulombe moved into a manufactured house in January 2024.
The home was a vast difference from the original brick house they bought in 2006.
But it is what happened to that brick house a day after Hurricane Idalia hit the area in August 2023 that changed everything. It started with the Coulombes losing power.
“I started the generator, and I had to head for work,” Rick said. “Sandy stayed home. As soon as I got to work, she was calling up saying, ‘Hey the generator just shut off.‘ I said, ‘OK no big deal. I’ll just swing by later on to start it back up.’ Within I would say 30 seconds later, she called up and said there was an explosion and the house was on fire.”
The generator exploded while sitting in a box that was placed just outside of the garage, which led to a devastating fire.
No one was hurt. Sandy made it out, along with the two family dogs and some belongings.
But they lost everything else, including their car and many other sentimental valuables.
“I am afraid of everything,” Sandy said. “Explosions, noises now.”
The Coulombes, who have been married for 42 years, were able to buy a manufactured house less than six months later.
Through it all, they have some sound advice so others do not have the same experience they did.
“Get the generator out of the box,” Sandy said. “It should get more airflow because Rick had even put fans and vents in that box the way he set it up. Still, we don’t know if that’s what the cause was. But get it away from the house.”
In the 18 years that the Coulombes have lived on their property, they said they never had any issues when it came to a storm. Their house and property were never damaged by the effects of a storm.
Now, the Coulombes are prepping for yet another hurricane. They are not panicking but said they are taking precautions.
“I learned a lot with that generator in the box first off,” Rick said. “Now, you cannot control the weather. The storm is going to come and is going to do what it is going to do. ... Let the storm do its own thing and clean up afterward. If we lose power, we have another generator, we will move it out in the open this time, and I think we will be just fine.”
“I will be pretty scared tonight when it passes in the dark,” Sandy said. “But thank goodness [Rick] is home with me. That is kind of a difference too from last year. But we will be OK. Everybody needs to know that. You will be OK.”
As they and everyone else ride out this latest storm.