Two months after a fire destroyed his family's home, North Port High AD Tony Miller ready to move forward
SARASOTA — Wearing two masks, gloves and a headlamp, Tony Miller ventured into the burned-out remains of his family’s home. The athletic director and assistant track coach at North Port High School wanted to retrieve several items locked in a safe.
When Miller emerged, he called his wife — “can you think of anything else that might be in there?” Only then did Alexis, one of the couple’s twin 17-year-old daughters, remind her dad of Snoopy.
Miller had forgotten all about Snoopy, a stuffed animal he had as a child before passing it on to Alexis. He just had to go back in and find Snoopy.
Helping hands: Community rallies around North Port athletic director Tony Miller after fire damages his home
After about five minutes of looking, Miller found Snoopy buried beneath debris in Alexis’ closet. “I wasn’t going to leave until I found that thing,” he said.
Snoopy was saved.
Miller’s home could not be.
The February fire started around a gas grill Miller had used that evening to cook. The family was asleep when Leighann, Miller’s wife, was awoken by a loud noise. Their two dogs began barking, but looking out her bedroom window, she saw nothing. Five minutes later, another sound, this one the explosion of Miller’s propane tank, caused Leighann again to look out the window, this time, to the right side of the house.
“My wife . . . could see a glow,” Miller said. “She opened up the bedroom door and looked into the kitchen/living area and saw our lanai on fire.” The family escaped the house just as the fire had spread to the living room.
Fire crews arrived on the scene within 10 minutes, but the damage to the lanai, kitchen, living room area, and attic was too extensive to be repaired. Because it will cost more than what the Millers had in insurance, they will use the insurance money to pay off their mortgage and look for another home.
“I think, at first, we thought we could stay,” he said, “but it was an emotional night and not everybody is ready to go back into the house. We’re going to do what’s best for our family, and what makes us feel safe, and what makes us feel like we’re at home.”
Since the fire, the family has been renting a home provided by a friend. Other friends donated bedroom furniture, beds, kitchen furniture, and clothes. Friends at CrossFit North Port donated enough money to buy furniture. An account on mybooster.com started by Agnes Pelopida, the high school’s assistant principal of administration, raised $30,000, which Miller said will go towards furniture and silverware and pots and pans and the like.
Life’s essential items one never thinks about, until one doesn’t have them. Like a spatula. “You take it for granted how much stuff you had,” he said. “I needed to cook something, and we got to get a spatula.”
As for the cause of the fire, Miller said it’s still unknown. “They don’t know exactly what caused the propane tank to explode,” he said.
The result was a lost home, but untold community generosity.
“There are a lot of good people in Southwest Florida.”
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Miller's family putting fire to home behind it and moving forward
