Lewiston family loses everything in house fire

LEWISTON, Idaho - A Lewiston family lost everything in a tragic fire that burned down their multi-generational house. It happened just off of Tammany Creek Road south of Lewiston. 

The fire broke out Tuesday evening around 5:30 p.m. and engulfed the 6,900 square foot house within a matter of minutes. The homeowner, Charles Lamm, who’s lived there since 1989, says he lost everything. 

“We had four generations of stuff in there. It’s gone,” Lamm said.

All things Lamm says he can never replace. 

“We lost, as my mom says, ninety years of history - birth certificates, pictures of her great great grandparents, they’re all gone,” Lamm said.

Lamm lived at his house with his 91-year-old mother as well as his daughter and her husband and two kids. 

They lost a dog and a cat in the fire, as well as two RV’s and a vehicle, but nothing is more important to Lamm than one item that can never be replaced. 

“My father’s ashes were inside the house. We were going to spread them at the end of August. His military uniform, World War II uniforms, and flag,” Lamm said.

The family is currently staying at a hotel until they can find a rental, and to help alleviate some of the costs, his daughter’s co-worker, Katie Hollingshead, created a GoFundMe page with a goal of $25,000 and so far, close to half of that has been raised. 

“The amount of support has been amazing. We have people dropping stuff off, we have people calling, we’ve raised over $10,000 in just a single day,” Hollingshead said.

For Lamm, the support from the community has been overwhelming. 

“There are so many people that I don’t even know that have come up and helped with everything,” Lamm said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe. If you want to donate, click here.