#2,852 When the Smoke Clears.

This afternoon at 1:00, I stood in shock with our friends and neighbors watching as Cafe La Fleur–one of Laurel’s most beloved longtime downtown restaurants, along with our friends’ upstairs apartment was burning, smoke billowing from the windows. I never felt so helpless in my life. Watching Landon and Matt, hands over their mouths each staring at something different–one his home and the other his business, as fire fighters rushed in and out working frantically to stop it. I cried walking back to the car, feeling so heartbroken for them as they watched their losses happening in an instant, without a warning.

But our friend Adam said the thing that matters most about today, the only good thing about this awful incident:

Today was one of those days you pray never happens to you. In a matter of minutes we watched friends lose their home, we watched neighbors lose their business. It happened so. dang. fast. I also saw first responders jump into action and take control of a potentially devastating situation, and I watched a community come together and support hurting people. Sure we have a lot of cool businesses (new and old) in Downtown Laurel, but the faces behind those businesses are some truly spectacular people. It may take a minute, but things will be repaired and things will be replaced, and the big win of the day is that all our friends are safe. #wearelaurel #downtownlaurel #ittakesavillage

A post shared by Adam Trest Home (@adamtresthome) on Oct 13, 2017 at 7:48pm PDT

Thanks be to God for everyone’s safety. As we know more about plans to help the Bryants and Flowers recover, I’ll share them here.