Owners of Powell's rental home in shock over fatal tragedy |

GRAHAM, Wash. -- The Centralia couple who rented Josh Powell the home he blew up on Sunday are struggling to come to terms with the terrible events that occurred on their property.

Patrick and Necia Small rented the Graham-area house to Powell just last fall through a rental company.

"We were told he wanted to live there and make a home for his children, to get custody of them," said Necia Small.

Now the images of the roaring house fire that took the lives of little Braden and Charles Powell are etched into their minds.

"It's beyond belief," Patrick Small said. "My heart was just in my throat."

When they rented him the home, the couple knew full well the stories about Powell and the disappearance of his wife, Susan.

"We felt that if he was innocent of any wrongdoing or anything, he should have the opportunity to continue on with his life," Patrick Small said.

Everything was fine until Sunday afternoon, when a relative called them in a panic.

"(They said) 'You may want to watch. Go to channel four and see what's going on. That's your house that I think is burning,'" Patrick Small said of the phone call.

Days after the fire, it's still difficult for the couple to describe the horror they witnessed.

"Looking at it and to know that that was my bedroom and those little babies died in it, it's just too much," Necia Small said.

Now they have to figure out what to do with what's left of the home, which they said Josh Powell actually wanted to buy from them.

"As far as I'm concerned they can just bulldoze it down," Necia Small said. "I don't even want to rebuild there. To me it's just evil."