It had been another beautiful South Dakota October day, and Todd and Janiece Weber were relaxing that evening at their ranch home near Carter.

Janiece had the day off of work, and the couple took the opportunity to wean their calves. The project ran smoothly, complete with visitors who had never experienced a farm/ranch day. They totally enjoyed the work of weighing and vaccinating the calves, as well as the occasional banter between the Webers.

That evening, with chores completed, Todd and Janiece were in their pajamas watching tv in their living room before retiring for the night. Janiece noticed her watch read 9 p.m., then had dozed off a bit, when she heard the doorbell.

“Funny,” she thought, “Dad is the only one who ever rings it, and why would he be here this time of night?” She and Todd looked at each other in surprise, and Todd walked through the kitchen. Janiece started to follow him, when he yelled, “There’s a fire in the garage.”

Janiece said she thought, “Okay, a fire in the garage can be extinguished with a pitcher of water. But as she opened the door to the garage, she quickly realized a pitcher wouldn’t put out that fire. The garage was fully engulfed in flames, including the two vehicles and everything else in it. Todd called 9-1-1, and told Janiece they had better get out.

She ran to the bedroom to grab some clothes, starting out with four pair of jeans, but then left three of them, planning to get them later. She regrets she didn’t get her favorite star quilt, but as she was getting the clothes, the bedroom window cracked and flames came outside the garage by the bedroom.

With no other recourse, the couple jumped out of the patio door – Todd in his pajama pants and shirt. As he started back in to get more clothes, a backdraft caused the ceiling and insulation to crash down toward them. Janiece remembers seeing the garage and west side of the house bright red with flames.

At 9:15 p.m., Todd (being a volunteer with the Witten Fire Department) got the call. “This had all happened in just a few minutes, and I remember thinking, “Where are the firemen?” Fifteen minutes seemed like forever. As I stood there watching the firemen do their best job possible, I remember worrying if all the smoke blowing toward the calves might hurt them, but they were just fine.

The weeks since the fire have been a whirlwind of reviewing, renewing, replacing and rebuilding, and Janiece and Todd now know just how very fortunate they are to live where they do – the wonderful neighbors and friends who came to their aid in so many ways – water, food, donations, calls, messages.

“No one can prepare for something like this, but we have learned to hold our heads high and proceed,” Janiece said. “Most everything is replaceable. We can only start from the bottom and work up.

“We do realize that the outcome could have been so different,” she continued. “If we had not been awakened exactly when we were, we would not have been here today. It has not been determined officially why that bell rang. My Dad didn’t come to our door that night, but now we know who did… Jesus rang the bell.”