Rose's Blog

(Lebanon, MO) -- A Lebanon family lost their home in a fire just days before Christmas. The Dyal family survived through their sheer will to live.

The fire last Monday morning happened just hours before a member of the Dyal family would be honored with a day of prayer in her hometown.

But prayer soon turned to nightmare, and once again, a community is praying for one of its own.

"We had minutes," Colleen Dyal says.

The Dyal family used to call this their home, but flames turned the cozy country house into a charred skeleton.

"It was all over. The house was engulfed," Colleen says.

Colleen says she woke to the faint sound of a smoke alarm and her son Curt's voice.

"Curt was yelling at me to get the kids out -- the house was on fire," she says.

Curt slept on a couch in a common room, and was able to get up in time because the smoke alarm was right above his head.

"If Curt had slept a little bit longer... he would have been down in the basement and we all would have... we wouldn't have made it out," his brother Bo says.

But mom and seven kids did make it out, and called dad at work with the news.

"On the way home the only thing I was thinking about was my family," Scott says.

The Dyals watched as firefighters fought the burning flames in freezing conditions.

"But the flames -- it was just like a big poof in the back of the house through the roof," Colleen says. "It was like it just broke through."

"It was unbelievable to see our bedroom burst into flames," Haley says. "Like a movie."

"On top of everything else that we've been going through, I just, total disbelief," Scott says.

You may be wondering why a family that lost absolutely everything is so calm.

"Practice," Haley says.

Fifteen-year-old Haley suffers from stage-4 lung cancer, and a recent MRI showed a new tumor in her brain.

"I wouldn't wish it on any other kid, especially someone that doesn't know God because I don't know how I'd get through it without knowing that," she says.

Lebanon had other plans for Haley last Monday: Haley Dyal Day, a day of prayer, when neighbors would ask God for her to recover.

"I'm an inspiration I guess they say," Haley says. "I never thought I would be."

The Dyals now have another inspiration.

"The chances of them surviving the fire I thought were very slim," Colleen says.

An ordinary plastic storage box that protected items the kids' great-grandmother's had passed down.

"That is amazing. They're not even smoke-damaged," Colleen says.

They don't know what caused the fire, or why this box survived, but the Dyals are certain of one thing.

"It's nothing but the hand of God," Colleen says. "I'll never believe it was anything but God watching over us."

Forty-five firefighters from 10 departments responded to the fire but the home was still a total loss. They think the fire began in the basement, but they don't know why.

Scott says everyone was ready to celebrate Haley during the day of prayer, and it was like the whole town got punched in the stomach.

But he says the whole town is pitching in to help. The family found a home to stay in for the next few months, and local businesses and neighbors donated enough food, clothing and even furniture to fill storage units.

With the help of the Heafley Brothers, friends are also organizing a benefit auction on January 24th at the Mills Center in Lebanon. There will be a chili supper at 5 p.m. and the auction will start at 7 p.m.