So, my parents had some neighbors across the street who were working on an old victorian house.  The place was a real wreck when they bought it, so I'm not sure why they just didn't tear the place down and start from scratch.  But little by little they were working some miracles with it.

Well, I got an e-mail from my mother this morning.  She said she woke up to red light all over her living room, looked out the window, and saw that same victorian with flames shooting clear out the top.  To add insult to injury, the owners were never able to get insurance for the house, and had put another $50K into fixing it up.  The result?  An utter and complete loss.  Fortunately, they're vacationing in Florida right now, so nobody was injured in the fire.  They have a house down there which has been on the market for the last two years without a sale, so they at least have a place they can live in.  It's just too bad they can't be where they really want to be now.

I'm not sure how the fire happened happened yet.  I'm waiting to hear back from Mom, but if you have room in your hearts for complete strangers, please keep Greg, Tammy and Toby in your prayers.  They're really good people, and it's a damned shame that this had to happen to them. :(