Just as people are ramping up to enjoy a holiday season filled with gifts, family and sitting around a brightly lit Christmas tree, Superior residents Rose and Glen Beissel are counting their blessing that they are still alive.

At 3 o’clock on Thursday morning a fire ripped through their home and they were able to escape with just the clothes on their back.

The elderly couple live up Cedar Creek and did not have insurance on their mobile home.

The fire originated from a wood stove in a shed located approximately four feet from the house, “it was probably a chimney fire,” said Assistant Fire Chief, Calvin Berry who arrived at the scene shortly after 3 a.m.

The trailer had wooden siding, and once it caught fire there was very little chance of saving it. The Superior Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene with one engine and three water tenders. Nine firefighters battled the blaze until 7 a.m.

The couple said they woke up to the sound of loud banging and saw the shed on fire and escaped the home with their dog. The wood stove in the shed was not used to heat the home.

Rose works at the Mineral Community Hospital and had just received her 25-year service pin on Wednesday, according to hospital spokesman, Monte Turner. Rose works in the kitchen at the hospital and Glen is disabled.

The couple lives on a very fixed income with no real savings. They never had children; however, Rose has a few relatives in the Bitterroot, where she grew up.

Turner put out a request for donations on Thursday stating that an account had been established at Wells Fargo Bank in Superior. Red Cross, Salvation Army and the We Care Foundation have also been notified to help out the couple. Donations of cash or items like appliances, bedding, and clothing can be dropped off at any Wells Fargo branch under Rose Beissel’s name. For now the couple is staying with friends.