Wichita family recovering from fire hit by thieves

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Last November, Christian and Hazel Stoner and their two young children lost everything in a house fire. It started with the kitchen stove while the couple was running errands.

“As I was leaving the Dillons at 47th and Broadway, I get a call from my landlord who lives behind here, and he’s like, your house is on fire,” said Christian.

The damage was contained to the inside of the home, but there was heavy smoke damage to many of their possessions.

Many items were donated to help the family clean up and rebuild their home. But as the house was being rebuilt, someone broke in a stole almost everything, including a memorial to their dog, Linda, who died in the fire.

Christian, who is a mechanic, kept many car parts tools, and other items in their garage and sheds.

“A very, very large amount of tools, power tools, jacks, jack stands, motors, a lot of Honda parts. My tool chest with at least $5,000 worth of tools, and miscellaneous parts equaling at least another $5,000. clothes, shoes, stuffed animals, stuffed supposedly ruined in the house fire,” said Christian.

Fortunately, many of these items have been located online.

“Between some of my friends who had looked out, and me looking myself, we came across them just looking for things we knew off the top of our heads,” said Christian. “There’s a lot here that they’re not going to put on Marketplace because they don’t know what it is.”

While they have continued to receive support during these hard times, the Stoners, said they’re hoping that anyone that has information on what happened will come forward.

“A lot of people lose a lot of stuff through this situation, it’s tough. It’s unnecessary. The person getting caught would be awesome because other people would get justice, not just us,” said Hazel.

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