It was a family’s worst nightmare, coming as nightmares do in the middle of the night. Trevor Ellison awoke to a house engulfed in black smoke and fire.
He woke up his wife Amber and took her outside. He then went back into the burning house to rescue their pug, Nova.
He went back inside a third time to save his animals but couldn’t breathe.
“When I was inside the house the smoke was so bad I began to get short of breath, I could not see through the black smoke, and I began to pass out. I tried and tried but could not locate my animals in the dark and smoke and was able to crawl outside to safety,” Trevor said. “All the amazing fire and law enforcement officials estimated I had less than a minute to live but through God’s good grace I was able to survive for my family and the hundreds of people who depend on me.”
The fire inspectors, adjustors, and remediation teams all agreed that this was the worst chemical smoke fire they had ever seen in a home.
“It was all because of my life’s collection,” Trevor said. “This collection spanned forty years of toys from every generation and most of the items were irreplaceable, from all the original Star Wars figures, props from movies, and an entire collection of everything else. People from all around would come to my house and tour the collection and were amazed at Trev’s museum.”
Trevor is an artist. He has taken old television sets from the 70s to the 90s and repurposed them as dioramas.
“I have taken items that people considered trash and I wanted to save them to show the younger generations that you can make something out of anything with love and care,” Trevor said. “When these items burned the plastics created such toxic smoke that it ruined every part of the home and all the items within it but none of that matters because my family is OK.”
On the night of the fire, their youngest son Trenton was on the mountain hunting with his grandfather, and their older son Jackson is a student at the University of Wyoming.
“It was another blessing from God that they were OK,” Trevor said.
Amber and Trevor’s home was destroyed. All those irreplaceable items are gone.
“Tragedy has once again taught me the most important lesson in life, it is not about what we have, it is not about what our house looks like, it is about the most important thing in life, the ones we love. You truly never realize your own vanity in life until you wake up with nothing, and even the most simple things such as your socks, undergarments, and toothbrush are truly more important than you realize,” Trevor said. “I have told everyone I know a couple of things over the last week, and I hope that the message resonates with others, never, ever take a second of this life for granted and please check your smoke alarms at your own house and those you love. Without those my wife and I might not be here, and it was another blessing from god that evening.”
The Ellison family is resilient, but they need our community’s support to get back on their feet.
Jack and Elaine Lackey, owners of the Midvale Station are sponsoring a Benefit Fishing Derby and Raffle with all the proceeds going to the Ellison family.
If you wish to donate directly to the family, you can donate at the Midvale Station or go to Central Bank and Trust in Riverton to donate to an account set up for the Ellison Family.
Last year’s benefit raised $27,000 for Liam Winters who was injured in a boating accident.