Copeland Family Fire

Whitney Copeland: I just had a tender moment with Pepper. It’s difficult to decipher only lip movements so when we can communicate it is a joyous moment for both of us!  She was asking about the bus. And everything on it. I asked her if she remembered that the bus was on fire. She said yes, then asked what about everything? I said everything was burnt and lost in the fire. But everyone in our family got out and is safe. I then asked if she wanted to know about a surprise. She said yes. I told her that someone bought her an iPod touch and that they are mailing it here. She said, who? I told her I didn’t know and she smiled so big I thought her face might burst. Immediately after she asked, what about Kade? I said he got a new switch. What about Emree? I told her she got a new tablet and Krew did too. What about you? I have my phone and it still works! Daddy? I told her daddy will get a new phone. She nodded her head and looked very content. I love her. I love that even in a sedated ...

Addey Kerr: Here is an accumulation of all of the accounts of everyone I've heard from that night. Kyle and Whitney were outside the bus hitching the bus to their trailer. Kyle was kneeling working on it and Whitney was holding the flashlight. Pepper and Kade were in their bunks. Kade was reading and Pepper was using her new iPod Touch. Krew and Emree were in playing on the floor isle towards the front of the bus. They began to hear a propane tank leaking which Emree described as "the sound of water" but was the whistling noise of leaking fumes. This caused Pepper to look over the top of her iPod and yell, "Oh no! Emree go get Mom!" Emree was then off the bus and yelled to her parents that something was leaking and something about a fire when the whole bus engulfed in flames. Whitney screamed and began taking off her coat and running to get to the front of the door. Kyle arrived right behind her and as she took the first step into the bus, he grabbed her arm and...

The Copeland Family Updates (Janie Hawley) 12/30/2021 12:31pm I honestly don't even know where to start with these updates and feel very inadequate. But I will do my best to keep it somewhat organized. Please offer all of the grace you can muster with my writing. I'll begin with the night of the event. I understand that not knowing what is going on or what happened and not having details can feel overwhelming, so I want to share some details and miracles from the night of the event to maybe offer some peace of "knowing". I want to warn you before reading, that this post is detailed and could be triggering if you have experienced similar trauma in that past. Here is an accumulation of all of the accounts of everyone I've heard from that night. Kyle and Whitney were outside the bus hitching the bus to their trailer. Kyle was kneeling working on it and Whitney was holding the flashlight. Pepper and Kade were in their bunks. Kade was reading and Pepper was usi...

Addey Kerr: Hi everyone! Yesterday was a long long day. We missed our connecting flight to Vegas which caused us to wait in the airport for an additional 9 hours. But we made it to the hospital a little after 8pm last night. We got to see our sweet Whitney. She looks fabulous and I teased her about how dang good she looks in all her new clothes from all of you. (Thank you guys. The woman was walking around in a blood stained smoky, burnt shirt for nearly 24 hours after.) She's our Whitney and was making us laugh. When I got on the plane I felt so much anxiety because there was no work to do. With my phone on airplane mode I no longer was able to be making arrangements, calling people and staying busy with getting things donated and provided for this family and just had to sit and wait (probably how many of you feel). But then when we landed and I took airplane mode off, my phone just froze up and received so many notifications for about a minute and a half. We've decided it...