There were so few personal items saved, Derek and Allison Weaver fit them into a single box.

The three family Bibles and their son Will’s Christmas cookie plate.

Derek’s original wedding band and Allison’s great-grandmother’s engagement ring.

Derek’s high school letterman jacket.

Will’s baby book and his childhood Dr. Seuss books.

The ‘It’s So Good To Be Home’ sign in the middle of the ashes.

“There’s just not a lot left,” whispered Allison, as she paused to collect herself.

Just south of Florence, Alabama, lies the proud northwest Alabama town of Muscles Shoals. Known worldwide for music recording studios such as FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, it sits near the Tennessee River and boasts of a community of close-knit friends and family.

It’s the place where neighbors help neighbors in good times and in bad.

They met in 1999. They were in their first year of teaching at Howell Graves Preschool.

Just over a month ago they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Derek and Allison were teachers then, and they are teachers now.

After teaching kindergarten for 26 years, Allison is a second-grade teacher at Highland Park Elementary School in Muscle Shoals.

Derek is a strength and conditioning teacher at Muscle Shoals High School and the defensive line coach with the football team.

They saved and saved some more.

“We saved for a house on two teacher’s salaries for years,” Allison told me.

“It was our dream house,” added Allison, before pausing.

Seems the family pets enjoyed the house as much as Derek, Allison and their now 20-year-old son Will.

Marley is a lab mix the family took home from the pound. She’s now 9 years old. Blind and diabetic, Marley is on insulin, but gets along as best she can.

Chloe is a 14-year-old mutt with some Corgi in her.

And Darci? She’s an 18-month-old Aussiedoodle, a gift to Will from his girlfriend Kamryn Grissom last Christmas.

It was July, 2025, and the Weaver family was about to be reminded there are good folks in Muscle Shoals. Good folks who race to those in need and show kindness and love. Good folks like those who worked as one on that muggy summer night.

“My friend Emily called and asked if Derek and I wanted to stop by for burgers,” Allison told me. “Our son, Will, was at Orange Beach. We were at our friend’s house for only about 45 minutes when we got the call about 8 pm.”

“I was coming back from the gym,” Bradley McCullar, a firefighter with Florence Fire and Rescue, told me. “I was off duty, but I saw smoke coming from the house. I called 9-1-1, jumped a fence and opened a back door where I saw three dogs. A Corgi ran out of the house, but the other two dogs must have been frightened and ran back inside.”

“I ran to the stairwell and yelled as the smoke was heavy. The Muscle Shoals Fire Department then pulled up.”

Derek and Allison raced to their home in the Brownstone community. The flames shot high into the sky as the Weavers watched their dreams crumble. “My first concern was where the dogs were,” Derek told me.

Allison had the same concerns as she stood shocked and heartbroken.

“I could feel the heat from the fire. I cried out for our dogs,” Allison told me.

“The flames were roaring through the roof,” Muscle Shoals Fire Chief John Hyde told me. “We emptied three stations from Muscle Shoals and later called in a fourth. The Tuscumbia City Fire Department brought in a pumper truck and the Sheffield Fire Department brought a ladder truck. We had about 25 people battling the fire.”

Muscle Shoals stood tall. Arriving on the scene were Mayor Mike Lockhart, school superintendent Chad Holden, the Weaver’s pastor, current and former teachers who worked with the Weavers, the family vet, friends and neighbors.

“There were so many people showing up to help they had to block off the roads,” said Derek. “We saw people helping firemen with their firehoses and gathering to pray.”

At one point, a big prayer circle was formed that surrounded Allison. “The scene was a true picture of the Gospel,” said Allison.

“I’ve been the Muscle Shoals City Schools superintendent for five years now,” Chad Holden told me. “I’ve known Derek and Allison and their son, Will, for years. The show of support the night of the fire didn’t surprise me.

“We have about 350 employees in our school district. We stand by our employees during good times and during difficult times.”

Added Derek Weaver, “A lot of those firefighters were my students at Muscle Shoals High School.”

“I was so happy to see the good in people,” Muscle Shoals mayor Mike Lockhart told me.

“I was impressed with the fire people, the police, the water department, the public safety people, the utility folks, the support from churches and so many others. It was humbling to watch. You could see God working.”

As their belongings were going up in smoke, Derek and Allison were being comforted as firefighters searched for their pets in the midst of the flames. Chloe the Corgi had been corralled, but what about Marley, the blind diabetic, and Darci, the rambunctious Aussiedoodle?

As flames surrounded them, Marley and Darci ran to the places they felt the safest: the bedrooms of their owners. Firefighters would find Marley laying on the bed in Derek and Allison’s bedroom.

And Darci? Thank heavens for a Muscle Shoals firefighter named Ryan Andrews.

It was late last month when Firefighter Andrews helped save a man from drowning at Panama City Beach, Fla. Andrews, along with Chief Hyde and Kyle Taylor, were on vacation. They saw a man in distress and pulled him to safety.

As the Weaver’s house was full of flames and smoke on July 3, Ryan Andrews followed his hunch: He climbed to the second story of the house and made his way into Will’s bedroom.

“Moments after I was surrounded in prayer, I received a call that Darci was saved,” said Allison.

“Ryan found Darci cowering under Will’s bed,” added Allison. “He carried Darci out of the house, gave her oxygen and helped her come back.”

Darci spent three days at the emergency vet. When we went to pick up Darci, the veterinarian told us there would be no charge,” Allison whispered. “The community stepped up and donated money to pay for Darci’s care.”

The Weaver family is living at a friend’s farm. They will soon move into a rental before putting the finishing touches on plans to rebuild in the same location.

“The fire marshal thinks the fire started in the garage and was caused by a power strip with nothing plugged into it,” said Allison. “He warns everyone that power strips are good to use, as long as they have a breaker in them.”

The three family dogs? They are doing well, although Darci has some hot spots on her skin, the result of the fire.

“Our veterinarian has given Darci some steroids, and we hope she will be OK,” said Allison.

Those good people who ran to the Weaver’s house on the night of the fire?

“We were glad to help the Weavers,” said Mayor Lockhart. Glad that firemen and police, friends and family and neighbors and teachers and clergy and volunteers came together when Muscle Shoals friends needed them most.

And how about Derek and Allison, who lost everything but a box of personal items?

They will cherish Will’s Christmas cookie plate, Derek’s original wedding ring, Allison’s great-grandmother’s engagement ring, Derek’s letterman jacket, Will’s baby book and his childhood Dr. Seuss books.

No, there’s not a lot left, but the Weavers have one another.

“We’re gonna build back better,” Derek told me, his voice sounding upbeat.

Derek thanked me for calling and said goodbye.

There was work to do.

Rick Karle, who writes a weekly ‘Good News’ story, is a 25-time Emmy winner and a 43-year veteran of broadcast news who has lived and worked in Alabama for 35 years. You can find his work on Facebook at Rick Karle Good News. Send your story suggestions to: [email protected]