Corinna -
After 40 years as a mechanic, Richard Curtis has built up quite the inventory. And after just one morning, he lost everything.
"Everything that I've worked for all these years," said Curtis.
At 5:30 AM on Sunday, Curtis woke up to his dog Shadow barking. He walked to his window and saw the flames.
"By the time I got my clothes on it was too late," he explained.
His two-story garage on Phinney Road in Corinna had somehow caught fire and it was spreading fast.
His daughter Jennifer Curtis said, "I live 3 miles away and I could see the flames over the treeline, the glow of the fire, the smoke."
The garage burnt to the ground. Inside was Curtis' wife's car that he was working on after an accident a few weeks ago.
Over the years, his business has helped many who had trouble affording a visit to the mechanic.
"He's never turned anyone away. If they came to him and they needed help, he always said yes," said Jennifer.
The garage housed expensive tools and equipment he used to help those people out. But Jennifer said the garage also stored family photos and mementos from her childhood.
She said, "There are memories from my brothers and I as children that are gone. All of it is gone."
They don't know what caused the fire, and since Curtis couldn't afford insurance they may never find out.
The Curtis family knows it's going to be tough recovering from this devastating loss, but they've been through tough times before.
"It was always okay because we had each other and today we still have eachother and that's the best part," said Jennifer.
Curtis says he's just going to take things one day at a time.
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