Kids & Family

After the Fire: Oak Forest Family Thanks Neighbors for Support

Cathy Ryskamp and her family saw their garage go up in flames March 29. They never expected what happened next.

An Oak Forest family whose garage caught fire Saturday, March 29 knows everything would have been much more difficult, if not for their neighbors. 

Sam Ryskamp had just returned from work around 3 p.m., when she, her mother Cathy and sister Emily heard a knock at the door. Their mailman, alerting them that the garage was in flames. 

They scurried outside—Sam barefoot—to see flames crawling over the structure at 157th and La Paz Drive. The panic set in. No time to move the car from near the garage—but minutes to grab the family's menagerie of four dogs, two rats, a lizard and a frog. 

Sam scurried in and ran back out with rats in her arms, and neighbors waiting to help. They offered slippers for her feet, and tanks to house the animals. Blankets to warm them, and hugs to comfort them. 

"People came, put blankets over our shoulders, rubbed our backs and told us over and over that everything would be OK," said Sam's mom Cathy.

Fire departments from Orland Park, Oak Forest, Tinley Park, Palos and Country Club Hills combatted the flames, knocking down a wall in a bedroom to be sure the fire hadn't begun its consumption of the living areas. The garage is gone, as is the Camaro and four-wheeler belonging to Scott Ryskamp, 21. 

Cathy inherited the home, built in 1984 by her father Salvatore, after his death in 2012. She couldn't help but think the sentimental significance of the home also inspired her neighbors. 

"My neighbors were more looking out for me," she said. "because I lost my dad, and it was his house."

The house is currently uninhabitable, until repairs are made to the wall, and smoke and water damage is fixed, Ryskamp said. They'll live in a hotel, possibly for the next six months. But none of that matters, because they're together. 

"We're alive. The animals are alive," Cathy said. "Clothes and possessions don't mean anything."

The support and comfort from neighbors calmed them that day, and comforts them moving forward, Cathy said. 

"What a wonderful community we live in," she said. "They were all around us."

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