If it wasn’t for Mary Stanley’s husband Taylor Stanley buying a bike pump on Amazon, they might not have survived the fire that destroyed their home.
That’s because their delivery driver Lou Ann whisked the family away in her van and brought them to safety as strong winds blew flames through their community.
“We could be dead if it wasn’t for Lou Ann,” Mary told KDVR. “She was our saving grace. A little angel right at the moment that we needed her.”
The family’s car battery died. So, Taylor Stanley ordered a bike pump so he could get around on his bicycle.
The family was napping with their 4-month-old baby at 11:12 a.m. on a Thursday when Mary smelled smoke.
They went outside and saw thick smoke in the air and high flames crawling from the top of a hill down toward their home.
“We knew we had to leave. We knew we had less than five minutes to get out of that house,” Mary said.
According to the family’s GoFundMe page, Taylor only had time to grab his work laptop and wallet.
Mary grabbed a few necessities for her and the baby. There was a moment of panic wondering how they were going to escape so quickly without a car and an infant in tow.
That’s when Amazon delivery driver Lou Ann pulled up to deliver their bike pump. The Stanley family was standing outside of their gate as the wind whipped through fanning the flames and making them spread quicker.
She saw that the family was in danger and told them to jump in her van.
“I really don’t think we would have made it out because it was happening so fast and with the winds like that, the gusts were so strong my husband was struggling to stay upright and get all of our things inside the van,” Mary said.
“She (Lou Ann) was actually pretty calm about it, she offered to help and she got us in the van and propped us up against the side and she dropped us off at the nearest community center.”
The Stanley family’s Superior, Colorado home was completely burned to the ground.
“It’s no longer there, it’s just a big pile of ashes,” Mary said.
The family was picked up at the community center by some friends and brought to Taylor’s mom’s house in Firestone.
“We don’t know what our plans are next, you know, we just lost our home,” Mary said. “We are worried about our neighbors more than our house cause ya know it’s not stuff that makes a home, it’s the people. And we are just glad we got out safe.”
A GoFundMe has been set up for the family and has reached over $9,700 of its $15,000 goal. The couple says they will use the funds to rebuild their lives and to help Lou Ann too.
“We never in a million years thought this would happen to us, and certainly, we never imagined that our house would be ground zero for such a horrendous fire, leaving us minutes to evacuate,” Mary wrote on her GoFundMe page. “With the money raised, we can find a home, buy clothes and toys for our baby, and hopefully start over. Our home may be in ashes, but our family is safe. That’s all that matters to us.”
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