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Cheatham Family House Fire

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I don't really know how to write this. It's the kind of thing, I guess, that you hope to never have to write. My family is in need. On Friday, April 8th, at around 5 AM, I'm told, my nine year old son Ulfric woke up. He woke up his older brother, Marcus, and asked him why there was so much smoke in the house. Marcus got up and looked around, and said he heard "burning sounds." He opened the front door, and saw that the garage was on fire. He came to our bedroom and woke me up, "Dad, there's fire on the house." I got up and walked into kitchen, to see smoke everywhere. I went to the front door and looked out, and immediately ran back into the house, hollering to the kids "GET UP! GET UP! GET OUT!" I got them all through the front door and out into the yard, then sprinted back inside for my wife. She was still asleep. I woke her up, screaming that the house was on fire and we had to go NOW. She was groggy and didn't quite connect what I said, so I grabbed her by her arm and hauled her out of the bed, screaming again that the house was on fire, and we had to go...she finally understood me, and as we came around into the kitchen to head out, she said she saw a wall of fire...the roof had apparently come down between us in the kitchen. I was screaming through the fire for her to go out of the back door. I could feel myself starting to cook, and I ran to the front door, feeling that in that moment I had to either run or die. I made it out to the yard, still screaming behind me for her to go out the back, and as I made it into the yard where the kids were waiting, they started screaming it too. I was hysterical with relief when I saw her come around the side of the house. We had managed to grab her phone, so called 911. We were still standing there in the front yard, when I heard loud electrical noises. We looked up to see the power line to the house starting to snap and come down, we started to back up, and that was when we realized the fire had lit the car on fire. We snatched up the kids and ran out of the yard, to the lot next door, and there we watched car explode into flame, all the windows blow out, and everything we owned in the world go up in smoke. The paramedics arrived. The police arrived. The firefighters arrived...everything was noise and fire. The kids were standing in the lot in their underwear, the only thing they had escaped with, and shivering...the police sat them in a cruiser to warm up. The paramedics checked all of us out, and everybody was fine. I was the only one that was burned, and for that, I am grateful. We were transported to the hospital in a daze...this is the kind of thing you read about happening to other people..surely that didn't just happen...

There is a lot to process, from realizing we had no shoes to realizing we had no toothbrushes, little by little, it's sinking in that everything is gone. We are asking for help in getting a new place, in getting a new car, in just getting the day to day things that are needed for life. Anything you can contribute will help, and if you can't contribute, that's fine too. I know that these are difficult times for everyone.

The time between when we woke up and when the roof collapsed was about two minutes. We were a hair's breadth away from never waking up. Take care, and cherish the things you have, and the people in your life.
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $100
    • 3 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $500
    • 3 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $50
    • 3 yrs
  • Marsha Vranish
    • $50
    • 3 yrs
  • Nicholas Bourgeois
    • $25
    • 3 yrs
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Co-organizers (2)

Michael Cheatham
Organizer
Breaux Bridge, LA
Destany Saxon
Co-organizer

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