Family escapes house fire in Unadilla

LINCOLN, Nebraska (KOLN) – For many families, becoming parents for the first time is challenging. Add to that a house fire, and it seems unimaginable. One Nebraska family is grateful to be alive and keeping their heads up thanks to the help of those around them.

The Schipman family had only been living in their Unadilla home for three months and had their first baby less than a month ago.

Just last week her house caught fire.

On August 21, the house where Brandon and Novelyn Schipman had brought their young daughter just weeks earlier burned down.

It happened early in the morning when the family was sleeping and was only woken up by the sounds of the baby.

“I looked out the window and saw what looked like a bright orange flashing light,” Novelyn said. “And it was 5 a.m., so it should have been pitch black outside. And then, just a few seconds later, the smoke alarms went off.”

Novelyn ran down the stairs and saw that her deck was on fire. The Schipmans made it out of the house with just seconds to spare before the fire grew and smoke began pouring in.

“It probably took about 30 seconds to get the baby out before he would have had to inhale smoke,” Brandon said.

The Schipmans said the damage was limited to the back rooms and the deck, but stressed that material things were not what mattered.

“At the end of the day, it’s just a house,” Brandon said. “It puts things in perspective for us.”

Both Brandon and Novelyn have lived in Lincoln most of their lives and said the support of their Unadilla community has made all the difference, from replacing items for the baby to raising funds.

“They really rallied around us and spread the word about what was happening,” Brandon said. “And so many people in town heard about it and wanted to give us baby supplies and just help us as best they could.”

It is still unclear how the fire started and whether the family will be able to repair the house and move back in, but despite everything, the Schipmans remain optimistic.

“It wasn’t a really big test for us because we know we’re on Earth for much bigger things,” Brandon said.

“I’m just grateful that our lives were spared,” Novelyn said. “I definitely feel like someone was protecting us throughout all of this.”

The Schipmans said that thanks to the generosity of their community, almost everything they needed for their baby was replaced. Now they are in the process of determining whether anything in the house and the house itself can still be salvaged.

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