Jenny James has done a lot of fund-raising for community groups over the years.
Now she hopes the community will give some of that good will back to her.
James’ home and everything she owned — including the $800 massage table she needs for school — were destroyed in an early morning house explosion and fire on Thanksgiving.
“I’m starting over. Every cent I had was in there,” she said in an interview Monday.
The two-story house was located on a dirt road off U.S. Highway 101 near milepost 199 in the Beaver area.
Firefighters from Clallam County Fire District No. 1 arrived at 3:45 a.m. on Thanksgiving to find it fully engulfed in flames. A propane leak was the suspected cause of the explosion.
Firefighters originally thought the unoccupied residence was someone’s second home given its location and lack of utilities.
But it wasn’t James’ second home — it was her only home.
James is a member of Cherry Hill, a bluegrass band which is holding a Dec. 5 fund-raiser for the Port Angeles Food Bank.
The group also has held fund-raisers for the Boys and Girls Club and Healthy Families.
James said she bought the house outright after her divorce last spring.
She moved her belongings into the house while working to get electricity service, a well and a septic system installed.
James lives in a 1964 motor home during the week while she attends massage school at Peninsula College in Port Angeles.
She used the house on the weekends when she had custody of her three children, Ashley, 18, Lilly, 15, and Noah, 13.
The three were home-schooled until recently, James said.
Now Ashley and Lilly are students at Port Angeles High School and Noah attends Roosevelt Middle School in Port Angeles.
A fund for James and her three children has been set up at Sterling Savings Bank.
Donations can be made at either the Port Angeles branch, at 1033 E. First St., or the Forks branch, at 1020 S. Forks Ave.
