BIGFORK — A few days before Thanksgiving a huge wind storm heavily damaged some homes in Bigfork.
One of the many homes damaged was Jerry Ott's. Ott has lived in his house for over 20 years and was startled one night while he was in bed and a large tree fell directly into his bedroom.
“I got woken up instantly. The whole house bounced, I think I bounced," said Ott.
Ott says that the tree barely missed him in his bed and without homeowner’s insurance, Ott wasn’t sure what to do.
Neighbor Michelle Martino says when she found out about Ott’s home she reached out to another neighbor – Doug Krol -- for help. Krol has a construction company called DPK construction.
“Doug wanted to see what he could do to shore up the roof or stabilize it for winter and hopefully survive the snow load," said Martino.
Heading into the winter months, Ott is most concerned about water leaking through the holes now in his roof.
"I’m just trying to keep stuff from going down the wall and getting into all that insulation and getting into that bottom plate and just rotting.”
Right now, Ott is just keeping his bedroom closed off and notes the room can get to freezing temperatures at night because of the hole. Ott estimates repairs cost upwards of $20,000. Unfortunately, he says he simply doesn’t have the money needed to do the necessary repairs.
Martino is now reaching out to the public for help.
“I think all the building materials we could get donated would be wonderful. Anybody who's got some kind of trade background that wants to help with the construction would be great."
Ott hopes to start construction as soon as possible. Anyone who is interested in donating time, materials or money can visit Jerry Ott's GoFundMe page.
