Denver and Jodie Coulter share their harrowing story of surviving a massive gas line explosion that destroyed their home in the middle of the night. Waking to fire surrounding their house, they ran through unbearable heat, burning debris, and thick smoke as they fought to escape. In this video, Denver and Jodie describe how our team took on their stress, fought for them, and helped them move forward.
On August 1, 2019, Denver and Jodie Coulter woke to a nightmare.
A gas line explosion had erupted near their home, surrounding them in flames.
“I woke up in the middle of the night, gripping the side of my mattress, and I realized that everything around me outside was on fire.”
The sound was deafening. Denver thought it was a tornado bearing down on them, while Jodie felt the heat closing in from every direction. When they opened the back door, fire poured in like a wave.
“It was beyond hot. We started to run, and my skin immediately started to sear.”
They fought to escape, their dog running alongside them. Jodie remembers debris falling from the sky, paint bubbling on nearby buildings, and struggling to breathe through the thick smoke.
When she finally reached a group of trees, she could breathe again.
“I got a first real, full-lung breath of air, and I was so grateful.”
The explosion destroyed everything they owned. Their home, cars, clothes, and cherished photos were gone in an instant. Later, they learned the gas line had exploded due to poor maintenance. When the Coulters met Candy Ellis, the daughter of a woman who died in the blast, she told them about Arnold & Itkin. Candy’s faith in the firm convinced them to call.
“She said she really had a lot of trust and faith in them.
That’s how we ended up going with Arnold & Itkin.”
Working with Arnold & Itkin gave Denver and Jodie the support they needed to rebuild their lives.
“They picked up that stress for me. They have allowed me to close that chapter, feel good about it, and move forward without looking back with regrets.”
Denver agrees.
“It’s almost like going over to see your family and sitting down and talking with them. After working with Arnold & Itkin, I feel good about my future.”
On August 1, 2019, I woke up in the middle of the night, gripping the side of my mattress, and I realized that everything around me outside was on fire. The gas line had exploded.
I woke up on the ground—and, hearing all this noise, it's almost like a train going down the tracks times 10. It kind of shook a little bit. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. My first thought was a tornado is on us, about to rip us apart. I started making my way down the hall to where my wife was.
I turned to the left, and I saw my husband coming down very slow motion, and I realized that he was not cognitive of what was going on. I tried to tell him that the gas line had exploded, but the noise was deafening.
I thought my head was going to explode from just the sound.
I opened the back door, and I looked outside—and just the fire and the heat. It didn't take me long to come to a point that we were trapped, and we weren't going to get out, and our life was over. I remember having the thought, "Wow, 50 some years old, and this is it. We're never going to see our kids no more."
Because I knew we weren’t getting out, and I knew nobody was getting in. It was too hot.
I was at a point where it's either burn to death, or I take our own lives. That's the only option we had.
We opened the back door to a flood of fire, just pouring like a tornado. It was beyond hot. We started to run, my skin immediately started to sear, and it took my breath. It was so hot and so painful. I cried out to the Lord again. It felt like wings engulfed me and started to push me forward because I had frozen a little bit from the heat and fear.
I stayed behind her and our dog, making sure they were okay. The whole time, the whole way out, for some reason I kept turning around and looking at that flame and how big it was. It was amazing. I couldn't believe it.
Things were falling out of the sky. Large chunks of rock and debris were on fire. One whizzed past my head real fast. I was like, “What was that? What was that?” Still trying to stay upright and falling over everything and Jordan just making me go and go, and Denver was behind me—but in my head, there was a quiet silence saying, "Go, go, go, go, go. Don't look back. Go, go, go." And that's exactly what I did. I couldn't run anymore because there was no air in the area. It was so hard to breathe. So, I tried to hide behind a building, and I could see, I looked over to the building, and the paint had started to bubble up on it. My skin was burning really bad, so I tried to pull my shirt down over my skin.
I kind of fell back a little bit thinking, "Oh, we're not going to make it. There's no way. It's too hot. We're going to fry. As soon as we get out from the cover of the house into the open, we're going to fry. We're going to die."
I knew that I couldn't stay there—even though I'd run as far as I could, it was still not safe. I could see that there were some trees, so I took off toward the trees. When I stepped into those trees, I could breathe.
I got a first real, full-lung breath of air, and I was so grateful.
I heard that the gas line exploded because of a lack of maintenance.
Every car, every piece of clothing, every picture, every memory that you had saved, every special item that I had collected was gone in an instant.
My wife and I, we were in the area one day and we saw Candy Ellis, who is the daughter of the woman who died in the explosion. She came up to us and asked us what our plans were. We didn't really know at first. She told us about Arnold & Itkin, and she said she really had a lot of trust and faith in them. That's how we ended up going with Arnold & Itkin.
Sometimes I would think about the level of stress that I had going through this whole thing, and I think about Arnold & Itkin taking on that stress for me. They picked it up, and they ran with it. They have allowed me to close that chapter, feel good about it, and move forward without looking back with regrets. I feel great.
Arnold & Itkin, they just made us feel kind of like, “Hey, everything's going to be fine. We're going to help you out here, and we're going to take care of everything for you.” And they did. It's almost like going over to see your family and sitting down and talking with them. After working with Arnold & Itkin, I feel good about my future. I feel like I have no worries. They were there for us, and they're still there for us now. I feel like my future is really bright because of Arnold & Itkin.
