The toughest task Panthers coach Ron Rivera was supposed to have to deal with this week was figuring out how to break the Seahawks’ code in Seattle. Then the fire alarm started going off.Rivera and his wife Stephanie were woken by an unmistakable smell around 3:30 Monday morning. Their south Charlotte home was on fire.”We both kind of said at the same time, ‘I think I smell smoke,'” Rivera recalled Monday afternoon. “She turned the lights on, and the house was filled with smoke.”As flames started spreading through the walls and floors of the three-story house, the Riveras, Ron’s two brothers, and their wives rushed outside with the two family dogs. 56 responders from the Charlotte Fire Department helped salvage the Riveras’ wedding album and other personal mementos, but the master bedroom, family room, and living room were all “pretty close” to destroyed. Rivera estimated it would take six to eight months before the house is liveable again.In the short term, the Riveras plan to stay with friends. And Carolina’s coach will start getting ready for Seattle.“Most of the stress will be at home,” Rivera said. “This is easy, this really is. This will be a great way for me to take my mind off it just for a little bit.”After his players woke up to the news, Rivera’s typical Monday plan was thrown out of whack. He missed morning meetings before arriving at Bank of America Stadium in the afternoon. With a West Coast trip and a short week ahead, the Panthers were already facing a strange schedule this week. But even though he wasn’t sure they’d be facing the Seahawks until Sunday night, Rivera had his coaching staff start preparing for the possible matchup earlier in the day.“The idea was to stay ahead. The coaches have. They’ve informed me where they are. The guy that is going to have to do any catching up is going to be me,” Rivera said.According to the Charlotte Fire Investigative Task Force, the blaze started in a gas fireplace next to the Riveras’ bedroom. Rivera and his brothers had the fireplace on while they watched Sunday’s NFL action.”It somehow just smoldered and kicked into high gear later on,” Rivera said.The fire at the head coach’s house was the latest in the line of a dramatic stretch of storylines that have surrounded the Panthers this year. From Steve Smith’s release to Greg Hardy’s arrest to Cam Newton’s injuries and accident, it’s been arguably the most dramatic season in Carolina’s 20-year history. And that doesn’t take into account what’s happened on the field, where the Panthers now have a chance to upset the Seahawks in a place where they’ve gone 26-2 over the last three seasons.”This opportunity to work, opportunity to continue to work, is very reassuring. This could have been worse, like Cam’s situation could have been worse, but it wasn’t,” Rivera said.”You can’t write this. You can’t make this stuff up. But at the end of the day, you learn how to cope with these things, and if you can keep your focus, you’ve got an opportunity, you’ve got a chance.”