First and foremost, I want to get my co-workers their jobs back.    I can always go design circuitry or write software for someone else.    They cannot.    There's not much high-tech work around here, and if I fail, they'll simply become very computer-literate burger-flippers.    I simply won't let that happen, any more than I would have let those cats burn to death.
They were loyal to me for a long time before this, and my personal honor demands that I remain loyal to them.    Before the fire, EPD was known as THE place to work in Pryor.    The reason I've still got one person here is because he refuses to leave.    He says, "Dan, NOBODY treats their employees like you do. NOBODY."   I'm rather proud of that, although I refuse to call my co-workers 'employees'.
Secondly, I want to make sure these corporate criminals can't continue to get away with this.    Maybe next time it won't be cats, but YOUR children.    Maybe next time neither you nor I will be there to rescue them.    Rather a stretch, but possible.    I wouldn't want to risk it myself.
Thirdly, I spent over 10,000 hours of my time building this business from, literally, nothing.    To have it destroyed through no fault of my own, whatsoever, by a group of dishonest, greedy, arrogant companies is not my idea of 'The American Dream'.

I didn't.
The Fire Marshall did.
The Cause and Origin inspector for Love Bottling did.
The Coca-Cola Company did.
The Cause and Origin inspector for the other insurance companies both did.
Chubb Insurance sent a "Nationally Known" Cause and Origin inspector to investigate on February 17th, 1999.    Over ONE YEAR after the fire, he determined that it was not the water cooler.    Strange thing about that investigation was that the building had been bulldozed eight months before that.    In fact, no one from Chubb has EVER been to that site.
Two years and one day after the fire, Oasis admitted that it was, in fact, the water cooler that was the cause of the fire.

The story is easy enough to verify.    Simply call The Pryor Daily Times (918-825-3292).    There were a total of 11 units that responded to the fire, and almost all of them saw what I did.    Or call the clerk at the Mayes County Courthouse.    Their number is 918-825-2185.    They've already received the filing for the other lawsuits.

We probably will.    I just wanted to try to get them to do "The Real Thing" first, without going into the lawsuit nightmare.    I have retained an attorney, who has sent them a demand letter for our total damages.    The attorney is somewhat mystified as to why I still won't ask for 'The Sun and The Moon and The Stars' like everybody else seems to do.    After the last few months of torture these companies have put us through, I guess I don't know either, but I'm still not ready to go to that extreme.
If I do, I still won't want the money for myself personally or for my company.    I intend to demand something along the lines of, "Pay us a LOT of money and end up looking like crooks anyway, or promote spaying and neutering on a nationwide scale.    Remember that it was the fact that that poor cat wasn't spayed that caused you so much trouble in the first place.    It won't cost you all that much, and you'll end up looking like the real heroes in this deal, for you'll be saving MILLIONS of lives."

Heaven knows, we've tried.    If you've got any contacts in the media, please let them know.    I've called and written to all of them I can think of.    I believe the basic problem here is that Oasis and Chubb spend an amazing amount of money on advertising.    Or maybe I'm just not photogenic enough? :)

Because I didn't.    There wasn't time to get both on my first trip into the office.    When I'd gotten the cats out and come back around front to go in and get my medals, discharge and flag, the firefighters ordered me in VERY strong terms not to go back in there. I've got a 16 year old cat at home, and I know how I'd feel if he were trapped in a burning building with no one to help him get out.    After all that has happened, I am still glad I wouldn't "be patient" while the fire was burning.
I was also told a few weeks ago, "One wonders what the headlines would have been if you had NOT gotten that cat and those kittens out? Maybe, 'Mother and six newborn kittens perish in flaming office fire while businessman stands outside watching them burn'." Some people would not mind that sort of headline.    I would.

Since there are only two of us left here, we've been going through all the "cat-related" sites we can find on the web, and sending mail to anyone we think might be able or willing to help us.    We have no "list" of e-mail addresses except for the ones we find at those sites.    We've got three unemployed co-workers counting on us to get their jobs back, and we're trying to fight 3 F500 companies with two computers and not much else.
We're using the only resource we have to get help.    What would you do?    Any suggestions would be very welcome.

After the fire and the newspaper article, they became known as 'Those Fire Cats' and were locally famous. I had people calling here for about 6 weeks after the fire wanting one. I told Raylene and Danny, "Those cats are famous. I could give away fifty of 'em, if I had 'em!"
As of the first of the year, they were all "living the high life." The mother and one of her 'daughters' went to a retired Judge's wife, two went to a lady who owns a craft shop out in Salina, one went to a 5th grade class at an elementary school, and two are still with the guys who did the 'distribution'.

That's just the latest in a long, long litany of excuses and stonewalling.    They know as well as you and I do that the cats were not the issue.    If the cat and her kittens had not been in the building, or if no one had gotten them out and they burned to death, these companies would still be liable.    This is just a red herring.    Besides, if they're all willing to make stupid, unfeeling statements like that, I'm surely willing to post them on the site.

Yes, and they paid pretty quickly.    We just didn't have enough.    Also, it wasn't us that started the fire.    It wasn't even in our office.

The only reason I can think of is that they think if they ignore it long enough, it will go away.    If it's any consolation, we've never gotten a single response to our e-mails either.

Oasis manufactured and sold that water cooler, even though they KNEW that others of the same model had started fires before.

Chubb insures Oasis against product liability claims.

I did what I did because it was the only thing I could do.    Period.    I refuse to take accolades simply for doing what is right.    I also still refuse to believe that there are many people in the world who would not have done EXACTLY the same thing.    Perhaps I am somewhat naive, but that's my belief.
Also, if I'd wanted to be famous, I could have easily done so last March.    I don't.    This is not the first time for me to get the opportunity to do something like this, and I didn't get publicity for the others either.    Not my style, I guess.    The only reason I'm doing so now is to get this thing settled and get on with our lives.

Without a doubt in my mind, even if I knew what was going to happen to our business.    The truly remarkable fact is that, after lawyers for Oasis and Chubb Insurance got involved, the only winners out of the four years EPD has been in business are the cat and her babies.    That's kinda cute, when I think about it.    If we accomplish nothing else out of this whole deal, MY honor is intact.    That's all I can ever ask of myself or anyone else.

We have repeatedly asked via e-mail for official statements from Oasis Manufacturing and The Chubb Group.    We have none at this time, and have never received any.    When or if we ever do receive them, they will also be posted immediately.

Because NO ONE owes us anything except Oasis and Chubb.    This is a matter of honor for us, and if we accept even one penny, we lose all our credibility, not to mention our honor.
    We've already received and returned many such 'donations' and every time, it costs somebody 66 cents in postage.    We have nothing against the Post Office making money, but we really don't have the 33 cents to spend returning your check!

I can also be contacted by voice at 918-825-9394 , or by FAX at: 918-825-9395