VANCOUVER, WA (July 2, 2018) – A fire heavily damaged the home of pastor Jim and Glenna Sequeira early Saturday morning. No one was injured.
The couple and Glenna’s father, who lives with the family, will be displaced for six to eight months, according to Don Robinson, assistant superintendent of the Pacific Northwest Conference.
Glenna woke up at 1 a.m. and noticed a flickering bright glow through the bathroom window. “It almost seemed that the bedroom was full of smoke before the alarm went off,” she says. “The outcome could have been much worse.” She immediately warned the others in the family. Their daughter Megan and her son had been in the home earlier that night and thought about staying over but decided to return to their own home.
When firefighters arrived, flames had engulfed two exterior walls and were shooting through the roof on the back of the house, Captain Joe Spatz told The Columbian newspaper. There also was fire on the second-floor bedroom and attic.
The cause remains undetermined.
The Sequeiras’ son Christopher is scheduled to be married this coming weekend. Jim and Glenna were supposed to host the rehearsal dinner.
A neighbor whom the Sequeiras did not know approached them, told them he is the general manager of a local restaurant, and offered to host the dinner for 31 people there. He told the Sequeiras, “We’ve got you covered.”
The Sequeiras asked that people pray to express gratitude that everyone escaped the fire, for decisions to be made about the house and where they will live, and that the wedding will still be a wonderful celebration.
A working smoke detector had alerted the occupants to the fire, and they were standing outside when firefighters arrived.
