A fire in Great Falls on Wednesday left Dillen Johnson and his family with a devastated home, along with all of their belongings being destroyed. Dillen Johnson was severely injured in the fire and was flown to Salt Lake City in Utah for medical treatment.
Aneesa Coomer talked with Dillen on Friday:
Emergency crews responded to a structure fire at 4811 Second Avenue North at 11:30pm on Wednesday. Dillen and his girlfriend’s son Matthew were inside the home when it caught fire. He initially attempted to contain the flames himself, resulting in the burns to his hands and legs.
Dillen says, “I ran in and I got Matthew out, which is Hannah's son. He was sleeping, so he was really confused on what was going on, but got him up and got him rushed out the door. And then I continued to try to put out the fire, you know, I went inside and I turned water on, tried to find cups, I took the shower head off and I turned that on and just let it run on the floor. All of that rubber and stuff melted to like my legs and my hands and stuff, and at that point I knew it was a lost cause.”
Dillen is currently at the University of Utah Health Center with his girlfriend Hannah, and is suspected to have third-degree burns to the hands and second-degree burns to his legs.
Friday evening they will remove his dressings for the first time and assess if he will need skin graft surgery.
Dillen says, “You know, it's all gone. That was years and years of memorabilia and things, the vehicle, all gone. So basically, it's just all kind of lost to me, and I'm just trying to keep in good spirits. I'm just going to, you know, reset, restart everything. Really, really thankful for the community and the friends that we have for sure.”
Family friend Megan Dunn has created a GoFundMe to help the family. It says:
Dillen (Dilly) & Hannah were in the process of blending their households together with their two boy when disaster struck. Their home became a total loss along with all of their belongings. Dilley was severely injured & has been mercy flighted to Salt Lake, UT for burns on his hands & legs with Hannah thankfully by his side.
Click here if you would like to make a donation.
Dunn also said that she is working to create a bank account for people who would prefer to donate that way.
Courtney Thom, a friend of the family, is collecting donated items:
For everyone who has reached out right now, Dillen, Hannah and Matthew are all okay. Everyone is alive - that’s the important part. Dillen is in good spirits - yay! Currently, it’s a waiting game as to what they need - until they get back home, no one knows. They do need clothes and will need toys for their boys. Everything is gone and money would be most beneficial to helping them get back to where they need to be - a home etc. As for clothes, below is a list of sizes for the four of them.
Matthew - 28x28 Jeans - 16 shirts - Men’s 8.5 shoes
Dax - 4/5T clothes - 10 shoes
Hannah - XL Shirts - 34x30 jeans - 9 in women’s shoes
Dillen - 30x32 jeans - Lg shirts - size 11 men’s shoes - could probably use sweats / baggier clothes due to the burns on his legs.
Thom says that anything anyone wants to drop off for them can be dropped off at her house, or she can meet you to pick it up. You can find her on Facebook, or text her at 406-590-7467.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
