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Family asking for help after fire destroys veteran's home

5 years 10 months 4 weeks ago Sunday, April 29 2018 Apr 29, 2018 April 29, 2018 9:41 PM April 29, 2018 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - A Korean War veteran is picking up the pieces after a fire ripped through his home. He and his family are asking for help, but are still grateful for what was saved.

87-year-old Les Mckee was sitting in his living room with his dog Pumpkin when the back of his house erupted in flames.

"My neighbor knocked on my window there, said your house is on fire!" he recalled. "Okay, I said, we better get out of here then!"
The Korean War vet made it out alive, but has had to spend every last dollar he had to fix his house. A month later, there's still no electricity.

"That's life when you live life without insurance, you take that calculated risk that it's not going to happen to you," he said.

When Les's wife died of a long-term illness in 1995, the medical expenses were so high that he could no longer afford home insurance.

Les has had to rely on the kindness of friends, and help from his daughter Stephanie to get the house where it is now.

"We've always been just hardworking people, and never had to ask for help before, and now I'm just asking for a little help," said Stephanie Lee.

Luckily, some of the most important things were spared from the flames. As we were visiting, Stephanie got a surprise: her mother's wedding dress, back from the cleaners.

"It's nicer than I've ever seen it look," she said. Stephanie had gone in the attic, against fireman's advice, to retrieve it after the fire. Everything had been burnt to a crisp except for the dress.

"It just means the world, and everything else will come through. You know, we're not asking for miracles, we just want to get daddy back in his home."

To help get Mr. Les and Pumpkin back in their home, click here.

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