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Alexis Coss Gutierrez, Daniel J. Gutierrez, Nairobi Coss

Published: December 23, 2007

One year ago, my family moved away from Miami to find a better environment to raise our family. On the night of Dec. 17, we discovered how right we were in choosing the Town of Lake Placid.

We lost everything in the fire that consumed our house at 367 Carole Road NW, but we gained an overwhelming sense of community. The efforts made by both the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department and the Placid Lakes Volunteer Fire Department, was an act we thought deserved acknowledgment. They disregarded personal safety to retrieve the only item of any value to my family, my little brother's ashes, who had passed away only a year ago. However, they did not stop there. They continued going back into the house despite the fire's refusal to be put out, or the roof collapsing all around them.

For hours they fought that Phoenix and the cold weather of that evening's frost, to help a family they did not know, and to try and maintain a home they no longer recognized. Even while we were all aware that all was lost, they did not quit until the last ember was out. They came to us later and handed us pictures they had managed to rescue while dowsing flames. My family and I could not believe that these fire personnel were all volunteers.
It is almost unheard of nowadays to have the kind of community based mentality we have been experiencing since our tragedy. We have had an overwhelming amount of people come out to offer assistance, and we wanted to acknowledge them as well. We really appreciate all the support and offer of support that we have gotten but would like nothing more than to assure all those who wish us well, that we will be all right.

However, would like to say that there are people who live daily with situations similar to the one we find ourselves in right now, and would like to suggest that all those who wish to help us will do so by locating and helping them. We are sure no community is more capable and willing to do just that.
We are not sure what the cause is for such exceptional behavior or an exceptional sense of unity, but no one excels like the Town of Lake Placid.

Please accept our deepest gratitude and let us share as newcomers in the pride of knowing we live in a town that breeds Heroes.

Alexis Coss Gutierrez, Daniel J. Gutierrez, Nairobi Coss
Lake Placid

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