Retired Carroll County firefighter battling cancer loses home in fire
Retired firefighter battling cancer loses home in fire
Heartbreak and devastation for a Carroll County family who lost everything just days before Christmas. Their house burned to the ground on December 23rd leaving them homeless. The father of three, a retired firefighter, is also battling cancer. Family says they're in need of community support.
CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. - Tragedy struck the family of a retired Carroll County firefighter who is already battling cancer. A fire two days before Christmas left them homeless.
His face may look familiar—the hero of a 2014 rescue operation for a little girl trapped inside a well. After 22 years as a firefighter, Clay Kierbow hung up his uniform, but he is now fighting a completely different battle.
"A lot of nausea, sometimes vomiting with it…just your standard trouble with cancer," Kierbow said.
For he and his wife Tara, the stage 4 cancer diagnosis he received in April changed life as their family knew it.
"To watch him go through chemo and radiation…it’s been really hard for our family," his wife said. "It’s been hard, but God don’t put more on you than you can handle," Kierbow added.
Little did they know, it was about to get harder. They lost almost everything in a blaze at their home just two days before Christmas.
"I was cooking, and my son called me from town saying that they had gotten into a wreck…I panicked and left the house with food on the stove," Tara recalled.
By the time she realized, it was too late…images of the home left to them by Kierbow’s grandmother are now a haunting reminder of a tragic loss.
Carroll County fire officials ruled it an accident and no one was hurt, but the Kierbows said they did not have home insurance—only adding to the weight of the financial stress they were already under.
"Me unable to work and she’s been unable to cause she’s been caring for me so much…and back and forth to doctors," Kierbow said.
The Kierbows said while they are staying with family, the Carroll County community has shown up big—donating clothes, dropping off food and other necessities.
Family members also started a GoFundMe for the couple and their three children with hopes it would inspire someone else to do the same.
Kierbow said he’s undergoing chemo and then will begin radiation treatments, but his battle with cancer is far from over.