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KEOSAUQUA, IOWA -- One school superintendent learned the value of a simple school lesson.
Karen Stinson, superintendent of the Van Buren Community School District, lost about $200,000 worth of belongings, including her car, when her house went up in flames on Friday.
She says she was filling up her lawn mower with gas when she heard a clicking noise. Then Stinson and her riding lawn mower caught on fire.
That’s when she remembered the lesson that many Van Buren county students learn, to stop, drop and roll.
The action put out the fire on her clothes, but now she's dealing with second and third degree burns on her body.
Regardless of the bad luck at the beginning of the school year, she says she's happy.
"We’ve got great family and friends and community and we stayed at Rachel Smith's house and my car is provided by Fesler Motor. It's a loner car from Brian Starnes, one of our board members. So we have food, we have a place to live, we're happy," Stinson said.
During the emergency, two foreign exchange students that were living with her evacuated the house with Stinson's help.
Despite the fire, Stinson is still hard at work in the superintendent's office to make the rest of the year a success.
