Within minutes after a two-alarm fire engulfed and burned down the 1,200-square-foot house on May 7, material and emotional support poured toward Madden and his wife, Atsuko.

The friends Madden knew from the Cupertino Emergency Preparedness Team immediately rushed to the burning house at 10101 Imperial Ave. once they received the email from CERT coordinator Marsha Hovey. Cupertino City Manager David Knapp also went to the scene and offered to let Madden stay at his house.

That night, the Maddens ended up staying at the house of John and Sandra Ludwig, a couple they have known for 27 years through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Stelling Road.

For a whole week after the fire, Kristell Mazzuco, a Campbell woman Madden knew from the Toastmasters, cooked Italian food and delivered it to the Ludwig's house for dinner. Cupertino Community Services also set up a fund to collect cash donations for the couple.

"We have people offer all kinds of things to us. Furniture. Clothes. You name it," Madden, 54, says. "I feel very thankful that people are so concerned about our welfare."

It is not surprising that people care so much about Madden, who is known for his altruism.

When Madden saw the house where he had lived for 12 years in flames, he parked his car at the end of Imperial Avenue, got his CERT helmet out of the trunk, and began directing traffic.

Hovey says, "Madden is a great community-minded person. He didn't stand there and just watch the house burn down. Instead, he turned something negative into a positive experience because he believes the community's welfare is as important as his own."

Madden is humble about the compliment and contributes his calmness to the CERT training he received two years ago.

"Some friends said I was crazy but I think directing the traffic actually kept me from going crazy. It took my mind from my own problem to serving somebody else," Madden says. "Without the CERT training, I would have been much more impacted emotionally."

Madden says the CERT training also helped him with his marriage.

"I have the confidence I can live through this and I have a strong shoulder for my wife to rely on when she is devastated," Madden says. "The extra clothes and blankets I kept in the car also gave us comfort when we lost everything."

Madden says his love for life has become even stronger after the fire, which was caused by a gas leak when some construction workers broke a gas line.

"While the gas was leaking, I could have walked into the house. But I didn't," Madden says. "That was why I told everybody I was blessed. I feel God still has something for me to do, although I don't know what that is."

Now, the Maddens stay in a townhouse which the insurance company rents for them while they build their new home.

Atsuko found some plans on the Internet for their new house. It will be a two-story house, with a living room, dining room and kitchen downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs. The Maddens expect the house to be completed in late December.

"The old house was gone. Another house will be built. Life goes on," Madden says.