Pig Rescuers Reeling After Fire Restarts Twice

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DARLYNN CZERNER, left, is comforted by Conie Massey as she prepares to bury three pot-bellied pigs, two cats, a rabbit and a cockateil that were killed in a fire at the pig rescue home.

LAKE WALES | They have only the clothes they're wearing, no home, few possessions and little money in the aftermath of a fire Monday morning at "Piggy Heights," east of Lake Wales.

But Darlynn Czerner and Butch Martin aren't worried about themselves. After three of their precious pigs died in the fire, the married couple is worried sick about the other 110 pigs who lived through the smoke and flames. About half are pot-bellied pigs.

"Our main concern is getting these animals situated, being able to feed them and care for them," Czerner said. "That's what we do."

For the past eight years, the couple have been taking in abused, unwanted or abandoned pigs. The pigs are kept in 16 pens, and the couple also have 17 dogs, four cats, two goats, two rabbits, a cockatiel and a bunch of chickens that survived the fire. Two cats, a rabbit and a cockatiel were also killed.

The nonprofit pig rescue, called Darlynn's Darlins, operates on the money from Czerner's job as a Disney bus driver, Martin's construction job at Everett Whitehead & Sons and donations.

With Czerner at work Sunday, Martin came home to a roof on fire. He and a neighbor, Jerry Briggs, removed two old pigs, Harley and Laddie, and a piglet, Baby Patsy, from inside the home and four dogs and six pigs from the back porch.

Firefighters from Polk County Fire Rescue spent from 11:23 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Sunday putting out the fire and making sure it didn't restart. Martin said half the roof was destroyed but most of their possessions were salvageable.

The fire started because of a short in wiring leading to a porch light, fire officials said.

About 6:20 p.m. Sunday, the roof smoldered and firefighters returned, spraying the attic. They left at 7:35 p.m.

Sunday night, Czerner and Martin were put at up by the American Red Cross by the Green Gables Inn in Lake Wales. They say they've got until Wednesday morning to leave the inn and they're not sure where they'll stay after that.

As Sunday turned into Monday, the home caught fire for the third time. The third fire did what the first two couldn't - it leveled the 1,800-square-foot manufactured home near Lake Rosalie. Firefighters arrived at 3:30 a.m. and left at 7:15.

Three of the pigs, Bumpy, Tilty, and Journey, were near the house. All blind, the three pigs were left in a pen near the home. Martin said he was reluctant to move them Sunday night because they're vulnerable when mixed with their seeing counterparts.

Those were the three pigs that died. Two cats, Niles and Leo, were inside the house and also died, as did Eisenhower the rabbit and Valentine the cockatiel.

The fire and scared pigs also destroyed fencing. Home Depot, where the couple does a lot of shopping, delivered about $700 worth of rolled metal fence and wood posts, free of charge.

Five of the surviving pigs were singed. One, Maddy, was singed all over, including near her eyes. Virtually all of the rest of the pigs were unnerved by the upheaval and acted out of character Monday - when they weren't sleeping.

Czerner and Martin try to bite their tongues when it comes to the firefighters' twice failing to fully extinguish the fire, but they're upset.

"They've got a hard job to do," Martin said. "But I'm angry."

Czerner said she feels like the fire department failed.

"You'd think they'd get it right the first time - or at least the second," she said.

Heather McClanahan, a spokeswoman for Polk County Fire Services, said "crews don't leave until they know the fire is out."

She said firefighters, in each of the first two instances they were called to the home, used state-of-the art thermal imaging cameras before leaving the scene. In each instance, she said, the technology indicated that the fire had been put out.

"We don't want this to happen, but unfortunately sometimes it does," she said. "We always feel bad whenever someone's home is lost."

Martin, a sweaty mess while burying pigs and fixing fences Monday, said he hopes things will get better.

"We're under water, but we need to try to stay afloat."

(From left) Connie Massey comforts Darlynn Czerner-Martin as her husband Clinton "Butch" Martin starts digging a grave for their three pot bellid pigs and two cats that were killed in their home fire at the Rescue Shelter.

Darlynn Czerner-Martin holds "Leo" her cat that was killed in the fire as she prepares to hand him to her husband Clinton "Butch" Martin to be buried at the Rescue Shelter.

(From left) Clinton "Butch" Martin and Connie Massey, a friend, place "Tilty", a pot bellied pig, into the grave at the Rescue Shelter.

Darlynn Czerner-Martin with Babe, left, and Oops, right, beside the burned remains of her and her husband Clinton "Butch" Martin home at their Rescue Shelter on Rosalie Lake Road in Lake Wales.

Area next to Darlynn Czerner-Martin and her husband Clinton "Butch" Martin home, destroyed by a fire, where three pot bellied pigs were killed at the Rescue Shelter.

Darlynn Czerner-Martin walks through the remains of her home destroyed by a fire at the Rescue Shelter.

How To Help

Darlynn's Darlins, an East Polk pig rescue, needs new hoses hay, pig feed, gas, medical help for burned pigs and material for pig shelters.

To donate, send a check to Mid Florida Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 8008, Lakeland, Fl., 33802-8008.

Make the check payable to Darlynn's Darlins, or Mid Florida, and note on the check that is going for "pot-bellied pig rescue." Or drop a check off at any Mid Florida branch with the same notations.

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This was the lady that we are doing the benefit concert for. Now, more than ever, is it so very important.