By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



The Tarwater family is finally home.

Six months after their house was destroyed by fire, Steve, Renee and Josh Tarwater have moved into their newly-built house on the same property.

The family, including their older son Jason, escaped the blaze with no injuries except for minor burns.

The Fultondale family’s absence from their home was bookended by holidays. Their house burned on Christmas Eve after a log rolled out of the fireplace. They moved into the new house on July 4.

The family spent Christmas and the first few days after the disaster in a hotel.

They then moved on New Year’s Day into a house owned by the city of Fultondale, paying only for the utilities. Fultondale did not charge the family rent during their stay.

“We were just glad to help, “ said Ed Hawkins with the Fultondale Building Inspections department. “That’s what we’re here for, to take care of our citizens.”

The city and area citizens came together to help the family.

Danny Dunson headed up an effort by Gardendale-Mt. Vernon Methodist Church to collect donations for the family.

“We just can’t be thankful enough for everybody who helped,” said Renee Tarwater. “We love and appreciate everybody and what they did for us. There have been so many positive things that have come out of this.”

While the family appreciates the city for the use of the house, Tarwater said it wasn’t the same as home.

“The mayor and everybody was great, letting us stay there,” she said. “But I’m just so glad to be back home. We were truly homesick.”

Tarwater said that moving into her new house was “just like coming home.”

She said the layout of the house is basically the same as the old house.

“It’s just like we were gone for six months and somebody remodeled out house,” she said. “We just love it. It’s beautiful.”

Tarwater had just taken a week’s vacation in December when her holiday were disrupted by the house fire, but she is finally getting a break.

She is taking a month off from her job at Gardendale’s Cracker Barrel to get her family settled in to the new house.