When Jon Becker left his home this past Tuesday at 6:48 a.m. to drive children with special needs on the school bus to Sioux Falls, he didn’t notice anything amiss; nothing was out of the ordinary.
All seemed as it did every other morning that he would leave to drive the bus or head to the school to substitute teach, as he routinely does as well. Becker looked forward to the day and to returning home that afternoon.
It wasn’t long after leaving, however, that he understood he would not be going back home that day.

Becker had just picked up a student in Egan and was on his way to Trent for one last stop when he got the call — Flandreau School Superintendent Rick Weber was on the other end of the line. He asked Becker where he was at, and informed him he needed to turn the bus around and come back to Flandreau, because his home was on fire.
Not even a half hour after closing the door on the family’s Pipestone Avenue home, Becker returned to flames shooting out from underneath the eaves. Something had gone horribly wrong with the wiring on a can light in the kitchen.
The home, after tens of thousands of gallons of water was used to save it, was likely a total loss.
A week later, it is still hard to know what is needed yet, what is salvageable or what comes next. But Jon and Kathie Becker are grateful for all of the generosity and care shown to them. Countless people, they say, have offered to do whatever they can to help. Having lived in the community only about six years, they cannot believe the outpouring of concern, support and love.
They also want to thank whoever the passer-by was that noticed the smoke coming out from underneath the roof and called 911. “We want to thank whoever that was. Things could have been so much worse. We would have lost a lot more than everything we did to fire, smoke and water damage…we just put so much love into this house and wanted to preserve it,” Kathie, who was out of town when the fire happened, said on Sunday evening. “It’ll just be what it’ll be. We’re trying to find a silver lining in all of this.”
The couple hopes a restoration company will help them save family heirlooms and antiques but they’re not sure yet what they might be able to keep. They love their home and the community, however, and both say they plan to be back, living along Pipestone Avenue, as soon as life allows.