Heartbreak from Newton house fire held together by family support

Bruce Doland of Newton was relaxing at home watching YouTube when his wife, Cynda, thought she smelled smoke. Within moments the fire that had originated from the front porch of their longtime home had spread to nearly engulf the whole house, which Bruce built for his family in the 1990s. It was almost 30 years old.

Apart from their dog and four cats, only Bruce and Cynda were in the house at the time of the fire. When Bruce saw the flames scale up the walls he knew his small fire extinguisher would not be able to put them out. Bruce and Cynda grabbed their dog, piled into a truck and dialed 911.

“The porch was full of smoke. It was the outside porch. I opened the door and, oh, I looked down at the corner and saw flames about this big,” Bruce said. “I knew where the fire extinguisher was, but by then the flames were shooting up the wall. I thought, ‘No. Not going to happen. That’s not going to put it out.’”

Firefighters from Newton, Baxter, Colfax, Kellogg, Monroe and Reasnor responded to the house fire a little before 1 p.m. on Jan. 11, along with Newton Police Department, Jasper County EMA and an ALS deputy from the sheriff’s office. Located in the 1600 block of East Seventh Street South, the home’s tan exterior was stained black from the flames. Cynda watched as smoke billowed from the roof. Tears flowed down her cheeks.

Christy Doland, a special education teacher at Aurora Heights Elementary, was still wearing her Cardinal red lanyard when she met up with her in-laws. Most of her time was spent comforting Cynda, who was understandably devastated by the loss of her home and possible deaths of her pet cats.

“It’s OK,” Christy told her. “It’s just a house. It can be replaced. Cynda, it’s OK.”

All the while Christy was making contact with loved ones, eventually telling the couple that a family member named Lexie offered them a place to stay. Bruce nodded his head at first, but he looked down at his flannel lounge pants and shirt covered by a long, tan parka. It was all he had left.

“We haven’t got any clothes,” he said.

Christy responded, “I know. We’ll take care of it. It’s OK. None of that matters. What matters is you guys are out. That’s what matters. I know you’re worried about the cats. But like I said cats are smart and they’ll do whatever they can to get them … What’s important is you guys are OK.”

Still, Cynda was having a tough time. Earlier Bruce had tried to convince an officer from the Newton Police Department to let him pick up a few things from the back of the house, or to at least find their cats. Officer Randy Oldfield looked grim and shook his head. It was getting too hot, Oldfield said.

Bruce walked back to the truck defeated. In the meantime, Oldfield walked toward the back of the house. A short while later he walked out with one of the felines in his hands. It was unclear whether the others survived or managed to escape. Even so the sight of a beloved pet making it out OK was enough for the Doland family.

The cat’s tri-color markings were dusted with dirt and ash when Oldfield handed the cat over to the Dolands’s neighbor, who trudged through deep snow to hand her off to Bruce. When the cat was safely in his arms, Bruce couldn’t help but smile. He carried the cat to his wife, who could barely contain herself.

Cynda wailed, “That’s my Babydoll! Oh my goodness! Babydoll!”

“See? God heard your prayers,” Christy said.

The 8-year-old Babydoll has been in the family ever since she was a kitten found screaming outside their home; she apparently lost her mom or was abandoned by her. Cynda wrapped her jacket over the cat, and for a moment she forgot all that hurt. She cradled her Babydoll and kissed her gently behind the ears.

“My baby baby. My Babydoll.”