It was about 2:30 a.m., Aug. 8 when Nebraska Medicine employee Peggy Sue DeLaet woke up to use the bathroom in her and her husband’s ground level apartment at the Benz Place apartments near 140th and Maple streets, in Omaha, Nebraska.
Unlike other nights, DeLaet noticed something different.
“I heard a loud pinging sound and thought it was some heavy hail,” she says. “I opened the blinds and all I could see was a pink haze and smoke. I thought someone’s car or garage was on fire.”
As she stepped outside her patio door, she soon realized there was a fire, but it wasn’t a car or garage, it was her apartment building.
In a matter of minutes, she grabbed her purse and phone and her and her husband got dressed exited their apartment.
“As everything was happening, it seemed surreal,” says DeLaet.
Investigators determined the cause of the fire to be accidental due to improperly discarded smoking materials on another apartment's exterior balcony. In the end, the DeLaets were one of several families displaced due to the fire and the damage caused.
“I’m just thankful that everyone got out safely,” says DeLaet.
After staying a few nights with a friend and then at a motel, DeLaet and her husband are back at the apartment complex in a different unit.
“The apartment isn’t fully furnished yet, but we’re getting there thanks to the generosity of people who donated furniture for us to use,” she says.
When DeLaet called into work, letting them know she wasn’t going to be in due to the fire, her colleagues shared the news with others. That’s when the outpouring of support and donations began. Everything from money, furniture, clothing and lodging were offered.
“The support I’ve gotten through the Internal Medicine groups and people in and outside of clinics has been overwhelming,” she says. “I didn’t expect any of this. It just goes to show that we have such a great family here at the medical center.”
In fact, Internal Medicine colleagues threw a surprise lunch shower for DeLaet on Aug. 27 as a way to donate baking supplies to her, since she lost her kitchen items in the fire. DeLaet is known as an avid baker who often brings in treats to share at work.
With the outpouring support, she knows she’s going to have make a lot of baked goods as a token of her appreciation for everyone’s care and thoughtfulness.
“I’m just so thankful to everyone who supported us during this time,” she says. “It just goes to show that there are so many good people out there.”