Before it burned to a pile of ashes, Melanie McQuiddy’s house on the outskirts of Canadian was her family’s home base. Her daughter and grandchildren flocked there for holidays. At Christmastime, she put a tree in every room and transformed herself into “Mimi-Claus,” complete with a wig and red costume dress.
The family considered the home a place of joy, laughter and shenanigans, she said.
Now — after the state’s largest wildfire in history tore across a million acres in the Texas Panhandle — the house is gone. So is McQuiddy’s Steinway piano. Her christening gown. Her family Bible.
“We have those memories,” McQuiddy said, her voice straining with emotion. “I’ll rebuild again so that my family can return.”
Part of moving forward is figuring out who is accountable for the damage. McQuiddy, 60, and h