VIDEO: A fire broke out in Ashmore overnight, burning a veteran’s house to the ground on Veteran’s Day. No one was hurt, and firefighters were able to save something near and dear to the homeowner’s heart. David Huffman, the owner of the house, is a Navy veteran and served four years on the U.S.S. Koelsh.
As crews searched his home for personal belongings, they managed to find something special: the service flag from Huffman’s father-in-law’s time from WWII. “They gave him a 21-gun salute when they buried him,” Huffman said. ”It makes me cry just thinking about it.”
Huffman was a boiler technician, meaning he was in charge of creating the steam that powered the 415 foot long ship he served on. “I was a boiler technician, third class when I got out,” Huffman said. “We had two boilers on our ship that produced real high pressure steam, it was like 1275 PSI.”
And, he said seeing the flag pulled from the flames on Veterans Day — coming from a family of veterans — was special. “It makes this old veteran pretty proud, you know it really does,” Huffman said.
The Ashmore Fire Protection District said the home is likely a total loss. One family member said Huffman and his wife lost all of their clothes in the fire as well.
