Firefighters save burial flag at fallen sailor's home

CORNELIUS, Ore. – Firefighters were able to save the burial flag of a fallen sailor during a fire at his mother’s Cornelius home Tuesday.

Susan Blanchard said they also saved family pictures.

"They took everything they could get their hands on and put them on this red tarp on the floor and covered it up to minimize the damage to it," she said.

Blanchard's son, 19-year-old Ryley Gallinger-Long, died in August in Afghanistan while on patrol.

Blanchard said firefighters knew she was Ryley's mother and the flag was inside her home. A stranger even approached her, told her he was a veteran and he would help her get the home cleaned and the flag, which was damaged by smoke, restored.

"And then to have total strangers just step up and say, 'I'm a vet, and I will take this, and I will make sure it's handled correctly' – just breaks me up," she said. "It means a great, a great deal to me."

Blanchard was at work when the fire started Tuesday. She says the structure of her home is sound, but everything inside is damaged by smoke.

Ryley and his twin grew up in the home. It's not just the physical things from Ryley's life that were important to his mother. It's the memories of him here at the house – his energy, his enthusiasm, his life.

"So he, all the way up even when he went to boot camp would come in and say, 'Hey, Mom, can I talk to you now?" And he used to stand in that living room and tell me about his day," Blanchard said.

She says she has nothing but the clothes she wore to work Tuesday, but her insurance is covering everything and the Red Cross is helping as well.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.