If viewing on the ABC10 app, click here for multimedia.
A Redding couple who lost their home in the Carr Fire got a pleasant surprise from comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres on Thursday: An opportunity to rebuild the house they’d worked so hard to remodel.
Cal Fire firefighter Eric Johnson of Redding was a first responder at the Ferguson Fire in Yosemite when the Carr Fire turned toward Redding. His girlfriend, Hope Jordan, evacuated to safety; but the home the couple bought in 2015, and remodeled themselves last winter, burned to the ground.
They'd not had the house reappraised since the remodel.
Friends and family pitched in, creating and contributing to a GoFundMe account to help pay the difference between what the couple’s insurance covered and what their newly-renovated home would have been worth. The goal was $20,000.
When DeGeneres hosted the couple on her Thursday show, the GoFundMe account totaled $12,203. At the end of their interview, she announced online print company Shutterfly would raise the total to $50,000.
DeGeneres had personal reasons for helping a firefighter rebuild.
“I say it all the time; I love firefighters, and we had a very bad fire up in Santa Barbara County,” said DeGeneres during the show. “Firefighters saved my home and I’m forever grateful.”
As of Thursday at 4 p.m., the donation hadn’t yet shown up on the GoFundMe page. The total was up to $12,413.
If viewing on the ABC10 app, click here for multimedia.