Rising from the Ashes: The Lab that Beat the Odds

Nadine and Jim Ragge were used to working late nights at their lab, California Dental Arts, in Fullerton, CA. But on May 29, 2012, they decided to close earlier than usual to go to the gym, an innocuous decision and one that potentially saved their lives.

At 11pm, a fire was raging in the store below their lab. It spread through the entire building, destroying everything. The police later determined it was an act of arson against the family that owned the store.

To make matters worse, the Ragges had let their rental insurance lapse as they were in the process of looking for a new location. Worse still: although the owners of the building had insurance, none of the damages were covered because it was arson. 

“We were sitting at the kitchen table, bewildered, wondering what we were going to do,” remembers Nadine. “When you’re in the middle of a crisis and you want to set a good example for your...