Priceless collection lost in fire

Writer and publisher Kent Davis lost a collection of 2,000 antique books, many of which are rare Southeast Asian histories dating back to the 1830s, in a house fire in Florida, USA yesterday. Kent, who recently published the most comprehensive history of Cambodian dance in Earth In Flower and is a contributor to my own guidebook, To Cambodia With Love, says he was lucky that both he and his wife survived. "I feel blessed. What if my wife had been killed? The rest of this stuff can be replaced. We are so lucky because we are alive. This is just stuff. Even spending 10 years, I'll go back and spend another 10 years on research and other things. But I have my wife and she has me. You never know how long something can take until you are watching your house burn to the ground in front of you. It is not the firefighters' fault. There just aren't any hydrants on these streets." Kent and his wife woke up to a house full of thick smoke. The couple got out with only their cell phone and the clothes on their back.

Kent believes the fire started by spontaneous combustion. His wife was using oil to stain a bench hours before the fire. "She took a face cloth about that size, rubbed it with linseed oil outside the house, brought the rag inside the house and threw it in a trash can. And that's what started the fire." From the trash can flames engulfed the Davis' garage, destroyed a Mercedes and caused a propane tank to explode. High winds at their waterfront property sent the flames quickly into the attic, then through the entire house. As for his collection of antique books, "The books were one of the largest collection of Southeast Asian history. There are some that are 170 years old. It was a rare collection that I had hoped to will to a library in Asia," he said. Link: datasia