WASHINGTON 鈥� When a fire tore through Maurice Dixon and Cheryl Dixon鈥檚 Naylor Road apartment Tuesday night, firefighters couldn鈥檛 understand why a residence with two adults and no children had so many toys in it.
鈥淭o just have two adults,鈥� Fire Chief Ed Pearson said, 鈥渢hey were doing some serious toy buying.鈥�
They later learned it鈥檚 because they were two grandparents buying toys for their kids. All those gifts were lost in the fire.
鈥淲e knew we had to step in at that point,鈥� Pearson said.
And so the firefighters with Engine Company 15 in Southeast D.C. did exactly that. On Wednesday, Pearson and Mike Donlon, another chief with Engine 15, reached out to Local 36 (D.C. firefighter鈥檚 union), the D.C. Firefighters Burn Foundation, Toys for Tots, and Mary鈥檚 Center to see if anything could be done.
Donlon said the answer was a real quick 鈥測es.鈥�
鈥淲ithin a few minutes of me sending the email [to another colleague who has a relationship with Mary鈥檚 Center] he called me,鈥� Donlon said. 鈥淗e said, 鈥楽end somebody up there to pick up the toys. They鈥檙e ready. They鈥檙e bagged. The children鈥檚 names are on the bags.鈥� I couldn鈥檛 believe it.鈥�
It also just so happened that Local 36 was giving out jackets on Wednesday as part of its annual coat drive, and so new jackets for the Dixons鈥� grandkids were also rustled up.
Then on Christmas Eve, the firefighters made the delivery, bringing in the Dixons and their extended family to the firehouse on 14th Street Southeast on Christmas Eve for a delivery that seemed to leave everyone overwhelmed with emotion.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been an extremely rough couple of days,鈥� said Maurice Dixon, who said he lost just about everything except the clothes they were wearing. 鈥淲e鈥檙e starting completely over.鈥�
Like any grandparent, he was looking forward to being able to spoil his grandkids.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for grandparents who love their grandkids 鈥� we go all out on Christmastime,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd for us to lose all the presents that we did, the fire department said that they were going to look into helping us for this Christmas season.鈥�
A few minutes later, Dixon was able to get a glimpse at the table full of gifts meant for everyone. He was nothing short of stunned, uttering an 鈥渙h wowwww鈥� before pausing to take it all in.
鈥淚t鈥檚 overwhelming because we鈥檙e not used to people doing stuff for us,鈥� he said.
After the formal presentation, Dixon laughed with the firefighters.
鈥淲hat do we do? We can鈥檛 open them鈥� he said.
After all, it wasn鈥檛 quite Christmas yet.
鈥淚t warms your heart. It lets you know that the love of Christmas is true. It lets you know that the spirit of giving is true,鈥� Dixon said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 emotional and we鈥檙e very, very appreciative about everything that has transpired. And we thank the fire department for stepping up and showing us love and giving our grandkids a Christmas that was taken away from us.鈥�
