My Northern Wisconsin

Covering Ashland, Iron, Lincoln, Oneida, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor, and Vilas Counties


DOUBLE WHAMMY: PHILLIPS WOMAN LOSES TWO HOMES WITHIN TWO MONTHS


In late September, Category 4 Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida.  Its destruction left one Phillips resident, Sandy Krueger, without her summer home that she purchased in July 2022.  It was located in Port Charlotte, northwest of Fort Myers.  It was eight miles from the house of her eldest son, DJ, who is a graduate of Prentice High School.  DJ's house survived the hurricane.

Sandy was raised in Wisconsin, but moved to Florida as a young woman to work for a cruise line.  Thirteen years later, her home at the time, located in Davie, Florida, survived Hurricane Katrina but was destroyed by Hurricane Wilma.  She moved back to Wisconsin a number of years ago and wanted to stay long enough that her youngest son, Andrew, could complete high school in Phillips.  He will graduate in 2025.  Upon his graduation, her plan was to make her summer home in Florida her permanent residence.  With the loss of her Florida home, however, Sandy was undecided if she would rebuild or not.

Seeing the devastation in Florida when she visited her property, Sandy decided to reach out to the schools to see if they could help collect dry goods and personal hygiene items that she could deliver on her next trip to Florida.  Schools in Phillips, Prentice, and Medford, along with a line dancing class in Stetsonville, filled up her truck with donations of all kinds.  She delivered the items to Floridians who could not get to food distribution centers due to having their cars underwater with no way to travel.

Two months later, more destruction hit, this time in the form of a fire that destroyed their permanent residence on Raskie Road in Phillips.  Fortunately, no one was home the night of the fire.  Sandy explained they were not home that night, because "we had a problem with the water heater and I’d been meaning to call the electrician all week for problems with lights in the kitchen."  Her son did not want to stay at the home with the lighting and hot water heater issues, so they went to a nearby motel.  That night they got a call that their house was on fire.

   

Sandy added, "My life’s theme song is from a show called 'Hee Haw.'  The song goes, 'If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.'"

The luck they did have, though, is that no one was injured in the blaze.  However, the home is a total loss.  Sandy shared, "The worst part is my husband passed away last year, and all my memories of him were in the house."

Not only did they lose their personal belongings, but Sandy lost the inventory for her Lego business.  She has been selling new and used Legos by piece or as whole sets plus selling the empty boxes and instruction manuals since 2018.  She said she loves her job but wasn't aware of her insurance needs.  "I didn’t know I needed separate insurance for my Legos, so none of that is covered."

When My Price County / My Northern Wisconsin reached out to Sandy, she wasn't sure if she should ask to raise funds.  "It’s hard being the one who needs help.  I’m always the one who is there to help others," she admitted.  However, her son stated it might be nice to get help replacing the Christmas presents they lost.  Sandy said monetary donations would also help them with temporary lodging and re-starting her Lego business.  To donate, you can contact Sandy at 715-657-0867, send checks to Sandra Krueger, W6908 Raskie Road, Phillips, WI  54555, or donate on GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/f/63fhv3-house-fire.

According to the Price County Sheriff's Office, the cause of the fire is under investigation.

   

   
Submitted photos.

Written By:  Lynne Bohn, MyPriceCounty.com
(This post was last modified: 02-18-2023, 01:41 AM by My Northern Wisconsin.)