When Tracie Suire returned home on the night of Oct. 24, she found her house in flames.

“It’s a helpless feeling,” she said, “knowing that there’s nothing that you can do but watch.”

Suire’s first concern, of course, was for her 16-year-old son, Charlie Stevens, who was supposed to be home studying.

“All I can say is thank goodness for teenagers who don’t listen,” she said. “And who don’t stay home when they are supposed to.”

With her son safe, the single working mother turned her attention to her other children, her two pets.

Firefighters told her that they had seen a large animal escape through a broken window while fighting the blaze.

“They thought it was the dog,” she said.

But Suire and her son found the dog while sifting through the rubble of what was left of their home off of County Road 64, about a mile west of the Wilcox Road Exit of Interstate 10.

So now they are searching, hoping that they can find Miss Kitty, a dark calico cat that they hope is still alive somewhere in the area.

“We had posters made up and distributed them throughout the area,” she said. “We also put some up around Elsanor School, just in case she might have gone that way.”

Suire said the 9-year-old calico was acquired from a former patient.

“She had on a pink and white collar when she disappeared,” she said. “She is very friendly.”

Suire said she and her son have been overwhelmed with the response of the community in helping them get back on their feet after the devastating loss.

They have been living at a hotel in Foley and hope to soon be moving into a temporary trailer while their home is being rebuilt.

But finding the cat would add a bit more closure to their trajedy that took their home and all of the possessions in it.

“She’s all we have left,” she said.

If you have any information leading to the return of Miss Kitty, contact Suire at (251) 609-2794.