In a flash, lives are overturned

A June house fire in Hoffman Estates cost Amy Van Hoose and her family dearly.

The family lived for 13 years in their home at 60 Douglas Court before flames destroyed it on June 17.

Investigators blamed the blaze on an electrical mishap and estimated the house had $150,000 in damage, the 23-year-old Van Hoose said. The insurance company is conducting its own investigation.

Van Hoose lived in the house with her mother, Shirley, and younger brother, Wiliam. Her father, Troy, would drive up on the weekends, as his job in Decatur took him away from the family during the week. They all escaped injury, but their biggest casualty was Rocky, the family's cat for six years who perished while he was nestled into his favorite place, a living room chair belonging to Amy's father.

"That was his safe spot," Van Hoose recalls.

Construction crews expect to start rebuilding the house next week, a process that could take seven months. However, most of the family's belongings are gone. Crews managed to salvage about a week's worth of Van Hoose's clothes and while she's grateful, she's getting a little weary of her limited outfit combinations.

Van Hoose turned to the folks at Putting Edge mini golf, where she worked as a teen. Her friend, Putting Edge general manager Steve Goldman, gave her hug and told her it would be all right.

Goldman then went further. He helped organize a fundraiser for the family. which will be held 2-4 p.m. Saturday at Putting Edge, 2535 Golf Road in Hoffman Estates. Admission is $10, good for a round of golf and a drink, and $4 from each admission will go to the Van Hoose family.

Amy, who is in the process of setting up the family relief fund at a bank, said there will also be a silent auction starting at 4 p.m.

While the family isn't in dire need of aid, any goodwill would help. Van Hoose is unemployed, and said she's looking for anything in retail. She said she lost her job as a cashier while tending to fire-related matters after she had held the job only a little more than a week (and her bosses didn't believe her story about a fire).

The fire not only gutted the house, it scattered the family. Van Hoose now lives with her boyfriend and his mother in Schaumburg, while her mother and brother have moved three hours away to Decatur to live with her father in a mobile home park.

"That's the hardest thing," Van Hoose said. "I just don't see my parents like I used to."

The fire has also uprooted 16-year-old William Van Hoose from Schaumburg High School. He'll do what every teen dreads and transfer high schools, starting classes this fall in Decatur.

Amy hopes the public can help her family out. She's lived in Hoffman Estates her whole life, and graduated from Schaumburg High School in 2003.

For more details on the event, call Putting Edge at (847) 885-1701.