Mother’s Day got off to a bad start Sunday for a family in Clairemont as flames and smoke poured from their attic.
Waldo Robinson and his wife are the original owners of their home at 5605 Birkdale Way; the couple has lived there for 44 years.
On Sunday morning, around 8:40 a.m., Waldo says he was getting ready for church and walked outside to get the newspaper.
“Someone from next door asked me ‘is there a fire at your place?’ I looked up and couldn’t see much smoke then, but walked around to the east side,” he said, that’s when he rushed inside to warn his family.
“Man, I thought he was crying wolf! ‘Fire, fire’,” his son Michael Robinson said. “'Is it on the stove? Just put some stuff on it.' But that didn’t happen did it, it was too big.”
Firefighters say the fire was raging when they got on scene and had a tough time putting it out.
“It was difficult getting to the fire just because we had so much stuff in the attic area, so we had a lot of ceiling to pull and a lot of debris up there, so it was hard. Kept getting a lot of flare-ups in there,” Capt. David June said.
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Waldo’s wife, Lorraine, was visibly upset as she stood talking to fire investigators, clutching her husband’s hand.
“She’s very upset. Yeah, she’s freaking out,” Michael said. “My dad and I are doing fine, but probably tomorrow I’ll be crying.”
Michael and his dad think the fire may have started with the water heater, but firefighters are still investigating.
“This is by far the worst catastrophe I’ve ever had personally, but I handle emergencies pretty well,” Waldo said.
Not the way this family had expected to spend Mother’s Day -- but at the end of the day -- a smile, a nod and a thank you from Waldo to the firefighters, and a reassuring hug for his wife.
