Cascade High School teachers lose home in fire, community gathers to support

LEAVENWORTH—When teachers Alex Rosenfield and Anthony Lubetski arrived at Cascade High School (CHS) for work on Sept. 9, they had no idea that by first period, their home would be on fire.

“I noticed that two people that don't normally call me during work hours called within one minute of each other, and then both of them texted me at the same time, and I normally don't check texts, but all of this was happening so quickly that I just glanced at it and it was like, ‘Your house is on fire. It's running up the hill,’” said Lubetski. 

Lubetski, a substitute teacher, and Rosenfield, a sixth-year CHS English teacher, have been in the area since 2016. They had been living in a 200-square-foot home up Nahahum Canyon with their two dogs while they built a secondary tiny home next to it. Their dream was to one day be able to have Rosenfield’s mother move from Wisconsin and into one of the homes to be closer as she got older. 

“Anthony and I both have chronic illnesses, so we've spent a lot of our life just trying to be healthy and trying to survive. So this felt like we were really close to kind of just living our life the way we wanted to, and being done working really hard for just like, a brief moment,” said Rosenfield.

Lubetski and Rosenfield rushed home shortly after 9 a.m. after hearing of the fire, which would eventually be identified as the Wynnie Fire. 

“There are so many things to be grateful for throughout this experience, and one of them is that everything happened so quickly…It could have been so much worse if it wasn't a super quick response,” said Rosenfield.

When they arrived, their home was still burning, but the swift response between their neighbors and the fire departments ensured that their dogs were safe, and the fire didn’t endanger any more structures or lives. They helped dig fire lines for about a half hour, but there wasn’t much else they could do.

As they watched their house burn, a firefighter spraying it down was hit by a falling piece of metal. When they went to check on him, they discovered it was Juan Castro Cervantes, a former student of theirs.

“We had both told him, like, ‘We're so proud of you for doing [the fire cadet] program. If our house was on fire, you would be the one we would want there,’ and then he literally was the person spraying the hose onto our house. It was kind of surreal. It really was comforting to have someone we knew there, and someone we trusted, and I was proud of him, of course, as my student. There was a lot of emotions all at once,” said Rosenfield. 

The couple lost their home and tractor, which was a vital tool for both building and snow removal, but their building project remained mostly unscathed, due to the efforts of their friends.

“There is a building site right between the house that burned and the house that we were building. I think a lot of those building materials between the two houses had ignited, and our friends and neighbors who got there immediately, like, went through the burning materials with their bodies and pushed them away from the house to try and save the build, which is just, I mean, unconscionable,” said Rosenfield. 

After the fire was contained at just over 10 acres, Rosenfield and Lubetski were flooded with an overwhelming amount of support. Friends offered places to stay and care items, Tumwater Drilling provided after-hours support to get their well working, and the NCW Quilt Guild even made them two quilts, one for Rosenfield’s mom, and one for Rosenfield and Lubetski. When Rosenfield returned to work the next day, she was embraced by students and coworkers offering support.

“At Cascade High School, and in the district at large, we like to say that if a student is going through a hard time or needs something that we like to wrap around them. And so, I knew that that was an ability that our community has, and I think makes us really unique…but to then be the person that was being wrapped around and being supported was powerful and meaningful in a totally different way than supporting others…We've done a lot of humble crying,” said Rosenfield.

“We'll replace our stuff in time, and we'll get to look back on all of the ways people helped us and supported us…It's kind of amazing to walk away from such a devastating situation with your heart being so full,” said Lubetski. 

Those looking to support Rosenfield and Lubetski can donate to: gofund.me/2153a666.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media