CSC employee grateful for support in aftermath of mobile home fire Published April 15, 2009 By Susan Griggs 81st Training Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, BILOXI, MISS. -- A newcomer to Team Keesler has found strength in adversity through the support of her coworkers at CSC. Sandy Kinder moved to Mississippi from St. Louis in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 after a series of personal hardships -- she was mourning her significant other of 30 years and her handicapped cousin who lived with her who died within months of each other, then she lost her factory job after 15 years. She moved to Mississippi, a place she'd grown to love over the years during visits with family members. A sheet metal fabricator by trade, she found plenty of work in Katrina's wake. She began her job at CSC Oct. 24, where she handles office requisitions and work orders for structures. March 1, she returned to her mobile home in Saucier after attending a friend's funeral. Less than 30 minutes after she went to sleep, she awoke to flames at the foot of her bed. "I thought I had smelled burning wires earlier in the day, but when you live out in the country with people burning debris, you don't give it a second thought," Ms. Kinder recalled. "My boyfriend and I and my cousin next door tried to fight the fire with garden hoses at first. Two neighbors on our dead-end road were fire department members and responded right away, but within five minutes, our trailer was fully engulfed. Then we focused on keeping the flames from burning my cousin's home." She and her boyfriend escaped the trailer with just their dogs and the nightclothes they were wearing. Everything they owned was gone. Ms. Kinder blistered her hands and face and singed her hair trying unsuccessfully to fight the fire and rescue three of her pets -- a talking parrot and two kittens. She even lost a new 37-inch television she'd bought with her income tax refund. "I also learned that fireproof safes aren't necessarily fireproof," Ms. Kinder remarked. "The fire burned the digital keypad and everything in the box -- birth certificate, Social Security card, truck title, insurance cards, checkbooks, personal papers -- turned to ash." She lost her cell phone in the blaze, so she didn't have any of the numbers stored in the phone's memory. The one number she remembered belonged to her CSC supervisor, Tony Gravitt. "His number was written on the board in my office -- I must have subconsciously memorized it," she said. "When Sandy called and explained what happened, we immediately set a plan into action to help her with all the necessary goods, clothing and pay issues," Mr. Gravitt commented. "She didn't want anyone to fuss about her problems, but we said that she is family and that's what friends do to help friends. "Everyone within CSC was extremely helpful with donations of money, food, clothing and furniture, and some contacted downtown businesses for donations of food cards, storage unit and furniture," he continued. Mr. Gravitt and his wife brought Sandy and her boyfriend a hot meal one evening and were shocked at what they saw. "After seeing the damage first hand, I was completely surprised that they had made it out safely," Mr. Gravitt pointed out. "The house was an empty shell, and they've had to start from scratch. They've been able to rebound fairly quickly, They seem to be in good spirits and things seem to be getting better each day. We're all very thankful for the generosity of everyone that's helped Sandy." "My new CSC family and my neighbors in Saucier were really there for me," Ms. Kinder said. "I was off work for a week to take care of things, and someone stopped by every night with food, clothes, linens, household goods, money, gift cards -- how can I ever thank them?" Sandy's father provided a travel trailer for them to occupy until they can find affordable housing. "So right now we don't really need a lot -- we don't really have much room for anything," Ms. Kinder explained. "But I'm so grateful for the love and support I've gotten from my new Keesler family."