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Family lives through two house fires and a battle with COVID-19 in a 3-year span

"We just survive with whatever comes at us, we don't have a choice," said one family member.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In rural Appalachia, life is simple. 

Tina and Johnny Haynes live in Bulls Gap, right on the verge of Hawkins County. 

"We're country. We don't have computers in the house and stuff like that," Tina said. "It's too expensive, and I won't pay for cable."

The Haynes have custody of their three grandchildren, who are 8, 10 and 13 years old. They raised them in a traditional Appalachian household, they said.

"They were told to go outside and hit the heel when they were younger. When they're little you can just not do anything and they're all right, you know? You can dress them how you want and do hands-on art," Tina said. "But, when they started school we had to put in internet, because they can't be so far behind or the other kids would make fun of them."

Additionally, the Haynes take care of many animals on their property. They have 11 goats, two pigs, 40 chickens, four dogs outside, three dogs inside and a few dozen cats.

Their property used to look a bit different than it does now. The trailer used to be longer, the garage wider and the tree in the middle of the yard didn't use to have burn marks up the side.

The last 3 years have been tough for this family.

"I wasn't here when it started," Tina said \.

In December 2019, Tina got a phone call. The family's trailer was on fire.

"We think it started in the laundry room area, but we'll never know for sure," Johnny said. 

He pointed out the area in their yard where the backroom of the trailer used to stretch out. Three years later, the yard still shows remnants of the blaze.

Credit: WBIR

"We contained it until the fire department got here and the fire department told us that they didn't see how in the world we had done what we done to save the place," Johnny said.  

While Johnny managed to stop the flames from spreading to the rest of the trailer, the fire destroyed the back half of their home. They lost their laundry room. All their clothes, gone. Their pantry was ruined — all their food was gone. So was the room where their grandchildren used to sleep.

"I got three kids, I couldn't become a basket case, even though I'd like to. I said I got to remember these three kids just lost more than I ever did, you know?" Tina said.

The remaining rooms in the trailer were still standing; however, they too displayed scars from the flames. 

"We really lost everything due to the smoke. And these ceilings were black," Tina said.

The family temporarily moved out. Tina, Johnny and their three grandchildren spent 12 days in a local motel. The family was determined to spend Christmas Day back home.

For several years, the McNabb Center has been providing the Haynes grandchildren gifts for Christmas, through the Dear Santa program. When they got word of the fire, McNabb stepped up to fill the need. The program donated clothes, shoes, bedding, and toiletries to all three children.

"The kids had a great Christmas, they'd never had a Christmas like what they had," Tina said.

It took the family 10 hours to get through all the presents.

"We actually had Christmas that year, it was amazing," Johnny said.

Additionally, neighbors stepped up to run wires to their generators to keep the Haynes' electricity on, so they could access their refrigerator.

"If it hadn't been for them and the people in this little neighborhood, and what McNabb did for us, we don't know what we would have done," Johnny said

Piece by piece the Haynes collected materials to rebuild their trailer. Their simple life was within view, but not for long.

"I went through here screaming the garage is on fire! The garage is on fire!" Tina said.

It happened again.

Credit: Tina Haynes

"It wasn't just it was a garage fire. It was everything to fix the first fire," Tina said.

The garage fire happened in September of 2020, exactly 9 months after the first fire.

Inside the garage, all of the family's building materials and tools turned to ash and their two cars were scorched past the point of working.

When the fire first started, a goat was trapped inside. The family had to make a split-second decision on whether to save the goat's life or evacuate one of the vehicles. They chose to rescue the goat.

"The fire was already so big, we just couldn't listen to him lay there and die," Tina said.

They lost thousands of dollars worth of items, none of which they had money to replace. 

"There was no insurance through none of this. All the cleanup was by hand," Tina said.

Johnny pointed out the tree next to the garage which shows the scars from the second fire. It has a long black burn mark up the side of the trunk. 

Credit: WBIR

"We don't take out the tree because a bird nests here every year, and we don't want to take their home away," Johnny said.

Through both of the fires, not a single person or animal was burned or injured. It's something Johnny described as a miracle.

Again, the family recovered. Slowly, they built a new garage to replace the old one and once again, their lives started getting back on track.

But despite all the family went through in those 2 years, they couldn't catch a break in 2021. This year, Tina got sick with COVID-19.

She has been on 2% oxygen for over 3 months now. When she first got the coronavirus she was in the ICU for 28 days. Johnny watched the three children night after night as Tina lay in the hospital.

"Yet, I'm still here. God kept me here for a reason. Thank God, because he didn't ever raise these three kids by himself," Tina said.

Johnny said it gave him a newfound respect for his wife. It made him love her even more.

"It's a non-stop job," Johnny said, "I've always wondered why my wife said she's tired in the evenings. I mean you're getting up, making breakfast, taking them to school, doing dishes, doing laundry, cooking three meals a day ... I mean, I would rather have a 20-hour job out here beating a sledgehammer."

Now, she's back from the hospital and the kids are helping take care of Tina. She said she hopes the kids can find comfort in knowing that everything is okay, and hopes that no more challenges are in store for them. This family can't handle any more disasters.

"I just want it to be peaceful this month for them. It's been a hard couple of years. Hopefully, next year will be an easier one," she said. "But, we just survive with whatever comes at us, we don't have a choice."

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