Local singer Mike McAbee reflects on his recent house fire, expresses gratefulness and shares a few lines from a song about the fire!

(photo by Mike McAbee)

Local singer Mike McAbee had a serious house fire in November at his Frankville home. decorahnews.com followed up with Mike to see how he was doing, and what reflections he had about such an experience.

First, Mike expressed a lot of appreciation in the aftermath of the fire.  "I've been extremely lucky in lots of ways. My kids weren't home at the time, my 2-year-old daughter, Lula, never saw what happened or the damage and Abe, my 16-year-old, has shown me (as usual) so much love and support. Mostly I've been lucky that I have a great job with so many friends. It makes me think about all the people who go through this under less fortunate circumstances. Because of that, I'd like to try to have a benefit concert this spring or summer for the Red Cross. They were a huge initial help and I'd like to try to pay them back with interest."

Although Mike had numerous offers of a places to stay in Decorah, he elected to stay at a vacant house in Frankville for the convenience of keeping his son in high school at Postville, and the proximity of ongoing repair work to his home (or as he affectionately refers to it, "The Bank").

"I've been real busy tearing out burned drywall, etc., but have made it to all my shows which was quite a challenge over the holidays. I've been surprised at how many people at my shows already knew about the fire and had taken up collections and donated clothes and toys."

And the repairs to his home are coming along. "My girlfriend Suzan has helped a ton especially with painting. I hate painting. I'm bad at it and it hurts my hands when I've painted all day and try to play a 4 hour show. The whole place needs three coats plus all the trim needs to be sealed. Hopefully, we'll be back in by February. The crazy weather has put everybody and the contractors behind schedule."

Mike has been playing music as his sole source of income for 14 years. However, the last couple of years he has been driving semi during harvest – partly for the money, but also because he really misses driving a semi. "You can imagine the look on my boss Don Elsbernd's face when after I didn't show up for work he drove by my house in the middle of the whole fire fiasco. I just looked up at him and shrugged my shoulders. Obviously he was more than understanding and has offered support in so many ways, including showing up to help sort through the debris and itemize what was lost."

"I feel guilty at times, though, for how the fire has changed my life in so many positive ways. Don't get me wrong, it's a painful, stressful experience. The amount of paperwork associated with it is pretty staggering. One of those things you don't think about until you encounter it."

And naturally, lots of folks have been asking Mike if he would be writing a song about his fire experience. He wrote a song to his girlfriend in December, in part to thank her for all her support. Mike shares the beginning lines:


We were messaging on our smart phones, and waited for that pinging tone,
that told me you were getting back to me,

And that last thing that you sent that night, said I never choose stuff over life,
and I thought about that as I fell asleep,

The next morning I awoke at dawn, and put my crappy work clothes on,
and ate some breakfast til I smelled the smoke,

The next thing I saw was just insane, my bed and clothes engulfed in flames,
so I drug my filing cabinet to the road,

Waiting for the fire trucks to arrive, I thought about my stuff vs. my life...

(photo by Mike McAbee)