The small yet tightly knit community of Aurora is rallying around a local couple who lost their ars, their pet and everything they owned in a devastating fire.
Bonnie Wilson is well-known to many Aurorans as the dependable server at Scattercreek Junction for some 20 years. Her husband, Marlon, was employed at the TA Travel Center near the I-5 interchange, but has been out of work because the truck stop’s restaurant has yet to reopen from the Covid-19 shutdowns.
They had lived in their mobile home in the Century Meadows neighborhood for 20 years, until a fire broke out the night of July 30 — and burned it to the ground in a matter of minutes.
“It completely destroyed everything inside, as well as their two vehicles,” the Wilsons’ daughter, Nanette Bishop, told the Canby Now Podcast. “They have a roommate, Andrew, who was pulled from the house during the fire. He is OK, but he also lost everything.”
Sadly, the family also lost a dog in the fire. The Wilsons’ home and belongings were completely uninsured.
“This fire was devastating,” Bishop said. “We are thankful that everyone made it out and will be OK. We are also thankful to the firefighters who put out the fire so it did not spread, as well as to all of the neighbors who jumped in to help that night. The amount of support they have received has been amazing.”
The couple’s plight, as well as a GoFundMe account set up for their benefit, has been shared numerous times by their neighbors in Aurora this past week, including Amy Beeles Strohmeyer, who also lives in Century Meadows but doesn’t know them personally.
“I just feel moved by their story, because they do live in my neighborhood and it could have been me,” she told the CNP.
A link to the GoFundMe campaign is available here.
