Reward offered during Rancho house fire

Bob and Carol Winter in his relatively unscathed garage on Long Valley Road in the Gardnerville Ranchos.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.

The mother of the owner of a Gardnerville Ranchos home severely damaged in a June 7 fire is offering a $1,000 reward.

Carol Winter, mother of Bob Winter, said she was looking for information on anyone who may have set off fireworks in the neighborhood.

Bob Winter said insurance investigators told him the cause of the fire that ravaged his and his neighbor’s Long Valley home was undetermined, but they would not rule out fireworks as a possibility. .

He said they would reopen the investigation if the reward revealed new information.

East Fork Fire Commissioner Amy Ray said firefighters did not receive any reports of fireworks at the time of the fire.

Winter’s house is a total loss and he hopes to find out if anyone is responsible before it is torn down.

Winter, a federal disaster inspector for FEMA for 35 years, said he was driving home this afternoon when he saw smoke rising from his neighborhood.

“I thought, ‘Gosh, I hope this isn’t my house,’” he said. “As I turned the corner, I could see the neighbor’s shed was on fire and mine was about to catch fire.”

He tried to get a garden hose, but by then the shed was on fire and he was chased from the yard. He and a neighbor entered the house to retrieve valuables when the rear windows blew out and smoke started pouring in.

“We had to run out and dive onto the pitch,” he said. “I have helped hundreds of thousands of victims of disasters caused by floods, hurricanes and fires. I know the pain of these people, but now I really know their pain, because look at me, I lost everything.

Winter’s home was essentially a museum with signed photos of celebrities he had served as bodyguards, his karate trophies, and his most prized possession, a jersey worn by his great-uncle Bob Waterfield, a Hall of Famer. football fame.

“It’s hanging in the Football Hall of Fame,” he said as he took a corner. “They had a bust made of him and they gave it to his wife, and then she gave it to me. She knew I loved football. It was a museum.

Winter had a closet full of suits, including Armani, that he wore while working as a bodyguard. Although East Fork firefighters were able to save them, they are unlikely to be portable due to the smoke damage.

Much of his clothing, including a collection of T-shirts from various disasters he had worked on, was destroyed when the sheds melted.

Although the damage is not visible from the street, the entire back of the house burned.

Fireworks are illegal in Douglas County.