By Jill Slater

Owner finds luck inside Regina Beach home damaged in explosion

Dec 5, 2014 | 3:51 PM

Dave Arnold’s Regina Beach home looks like a dollhouse that a three-year-old shook during a tantrum.

“We’re done,” said Arnold minutes after surveying the inside of his home for the first time since the explosion. He works as the co-host of the Sarah Mills Show for News Talk Radio.

Arnold and his wife, Jocelyn Bierman, live two houses away from the house that blew up Wednesday at Regina Beach.

Walls have shifted about a half foot from where they should be. The living room window pane is perched on Arnold’s couch. Vases are shattered, mirrors are thrown off the walls and the bathroom cabinet is leaning onto the opposite wall as though it’s taking a rest.

Relish and Aunt Jemima pancake syrup lay on the kitchen floor after the fridge blew open and then shut again during the blast.

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But a few feet away from the fridge, Arnold notices something untouched.

“Honey, look,” he says.

“My pansy shells,” Bierman said with a smile.

The shells are mounted in two frames and they were given to Bierman by her late father. The delicate shells came from her home in South Africa and it is very rare to find such shells intact.

“It’s supposed to give you luck. Lots of luck,” said Bierman.

Bierman says it is going to take some time to come to terms with losing her home. 

“There’s nothing to come home to at the end of the day, said Bierman. “I still have to wrap my head around that.”

Arnold says people have been wonderful in offering their help.

“They’re offering places to stay,” said Arnold.

“I’ve had emails and texts from friends of mine who have heard and said, ‘Ok I got some tools and a truck. I’ve got a strong back and a small brain. Let know when you need me out.’ And ‘Hey can I bring a hammer and help you out a bit?’”

“I think we might be a little beyond a hammer here,” he said.

Arnold pointed out that normally his wife would be at home in the afternoon, which is when the blast happened.

“I’m just so thankful that nobody was hurt and unbelievable that no one was killed. My wife had mentioned her pansy shells and they brought luck. They brought luck.”

JSlater@rawlco.com

On Twitter: @genericjill