The mother's screaming still haunts him.
"It's hard to explain," the man said Wednesday night, sounding weary. It's been almost three weeks since the house fire on his street snuffed out the lives of three young boys and badly burned their mother.
He didn't want to give his name for another quote. TV news stations hounded him and his neighbors on Oak Street in the days after the fire, as shocking details of an arson plot emerged in the criminal complaints against the boys' father and uncle.
The neighbor was one of hundreds who attended a community-wide service Wednesday night in Argyle Park to help this village of about 850 people heal in the aftermath of the fire and remember the boys who died.
The boys are 7-year-old Allen Wand, 5-year-old Jeffery Wand and 3-year-old Joseph "Jo Jo" Wand. Their mother, Sharon Wand, remains in the burn unit of the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. Jessica, their 2-year-old sister, also survived.
The crowd sat in the bleachers and stood on the grass of the park. Dozens of local military, law enforcement and public safety organizations lined up in uniform, including the workers who helped at the scene of the fire, the Blanchardville and Argyle Fire Departments and EMS.
Pastor Dan Bohlman likened the town's experience to the Biblical story of Mary Magdalene crying at Jesus' empty tomb, after watching him betrayed and crucified, and then witnessing his resurrection. The story is now told during Easter weekend, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, from Good Friday through Easter Sunday.
"Her Friday was very much like your Friday on Sept. 7," said Bohlman, who ministers at the Yellowstone and Apple Grove Lutheran Churches. "Just like Jesus, I know this community will rise again."
Bohlman prayed for the families of the three boys and for the "alleged perpetrators" in the fire, without naming their father Armin Wand III and uncle Jeremy Wand, who are charged with multiple counts of homicide in Lafayette County Circuit Court.
The service wasn't intended as a memorial or funeral, so beyond their names, little was said during the ceremony about the boys who died. The families are waiting for their mother to get out of the hospital before proceeding with arrangements for a memorial.
But the lives of Allen, Jeffery and Jo Jo lit up in bittersweet detail in art displays Argyle schoolchildren made in their honor, including a paper chain covered with messages to them. The links in the chain were draped across the fence at the entrance to the park.
"You took pride in yourself when you wrote your name. You were loved."
"Jo Jo, I was looking forward to getting to know you at recess. Revel in the light, sweetie. - Mrs. Burger"
"Please keep the Wand boys in your prayers. Please keep them in your heart. I think we need to give love to the whole family. We need to care for them and the little girl. - Kaylynne Meier"
Seventh-grader Alexis Hinojosa said all grades at the Argyle school worked together to make the artwork in their honor. She lives on the next street over from the Wands' home and remembers hearing them play in the backyard.
"I wrote something about how I miss hearing their laughter every night," she said. "Every day at school they were always happy coming and going. Always cheerful."
At the end of the service, three lanterns were launched into the night sky, one for each boy.
It was a crisp night and the crowd shivered. The sky had turned over the course of the evening from pale yellow to streaks of peach to a purplish blue, a bruise in reverse.
The lanterns floated off high into the distance. For a moment, they looked just like the flickering stars around them, and then they disappeared into the night.
"It's hard to explain," the man said Wednesday night, sounding weary. It's been almost three weeks since the house fire on his street snuffed out the lives of three young boys and badly burned their mother.
He didn't want to give his name for another quote. TV news stations hounded him and his neighbors on Oak Street in the days after the fire, as shocking details of an arson plot emerged in the criminal complaints against the boys' father and uncle.
The neighbor was one of hundreds who attended a community-wide service Wednesday night in Argyle Park to help this village of about 850 people heal in the aftermath of the fire and remember the boys who died.
The boys are 7-year-old Allen Wand, 5-year-old Jeffery Wand and 3-year-old Joseph "Jo Jo" Wand. Their mother, Sharon Wand, remains in the burn unit of the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. Jessica, their 2-year-old sister, also survived.
The crowd sat in the bleachers and stood on the grass of the park. Dozens of local military, law enforcement and public safety organizations lined up in uniform, including the workers who helped at the scene of the fire, the Blanchardville and Argyle Fire Departments and EMS.
Pastor Dan Bohlman likened the town's experience to the Biblical story of Mary Magdalene crying at Jesus' empty tomb, after watching him betrayed and crucified, and then witnessing his resurrection. The story is now told during Easter weekend, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, from Good Friday through Easter Sunday.
"Her Friday was very much like your Friday on Sept. 7," said Bohlman, who ministers at the Yellowstone and Apple Grove Lutheran Churches. "Just like Jesus, I know this community will rise again."
Bohlman prayed for the families of the three boys and for the "alleged perpetrators" in the fire, without naming their father Armin Wand III and uncle Jeremy Wand, who are charged with multiple counts of homicide in Lafayette County Circuit Court.
The service wasn't intended as a memorial or funeral, so beyond their names, little was said during the ceremony about the boys who died. The families are waiting for their mother to get out of the hospital before proceeding with arrangements for a memorial.
But the lives of Allen, Jeffery and Jo Jo lit up in bittersweet detail in art displays Argyle schoolchildren made in their honor, including a paper chain covered with messages to them. The links in the chain were draped across the fence at the entrance to the park.
"You took pride in yourself when you wrote your name. You were loved."
"Jo Jo, I was looking forward to getting to know you at recess. Revel in the light, sweetie. - Mrs. Burger"
"Please keep the Wand boys in your prayers. Please keep them in your heart. I think we need to give love to the whole family. We need to care for them and the little girl. - Kaylynne Meier"
Seventh-grader Alexis Hinojosa said all grades at the Argyle school worked together to make the artwork in their honor. She lives on the next street over from the Wands' home and remembers hearing them play in the backyard.
"I wrote something about how I miss hearing their laughter every night," she said. "Every day at school they were always happy coming and going. Always cheerful."
At the end of the service, three lanterns were launched into the night sky, one for each boy.
It was a crisp night and the crowd shivered. The sky had turned over the course of the evening from pale yellow to streaks of peach to a purplish blue, a bruise in reverse.
The lanterns floated off high into the distance. For a moment, they looked just like the flickering stars around them, and then they disappeared into the night.