EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Single mom gets a lift after flames devour home

It was about 6 a.m. on a Saturday when Heather took a quick shower before heading to work.

When she came out of the bathroom, she smelled something terribly wrong.

"My kitchen and laundry room were up in flames," she said.

She made a quick attempt to put out the fire, then escaped her upstairs apartment she'd moved into several days before. She pounded on the other three doors of the fourplex to warn occupants.

"I wanted to make sure everybody got out," she said.

They did, but those at all four apartments were left homeless by the Sept. 27 blaze. Hours earlier that same day, an arson fire destroyed an eight-unit condo complex in Rockrimmon and killed a resident.

The Red Cross was at both places to offer assistance.

"Our goal is to sustain the same way of living and prevent them from skipping a beat," said spokeswoman Jennifer Mariano.

Heather, the single mother of three children, received gift cards from the Red Cross, one of 14 area agencies receiving funds from The Gazette-El Pomar Empty Stocking Fund.

"They gave me $800, enough to get school clothes and everything they needed for school," Heather said.

The kids were at their father's house at the time of the fire.

The fire was started accidentally by a laundry bag Heather had put too close to the water heater. Heather had paid the rent and deposit and said she felt too bad about causing the fire to ask for any money back, even though she'd lived there for only a few days.

She said she busted her butt working extra hours as an assistant hotel manager to get the money for a new place to live.

"The Red Cross contacted me and said they wanted to help me with rent," she said.

The agency paid for the next month's rent.

"It helped; everything helped," Heather said. "I lost everything."

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Contact the writer: 636-0253 or andrea.brown@gazette.com

TO DONATE

Make a secure donation at www.fillanemptystocking.org. Call 476-1673 to make a credit card or stock donation over the phone. Checks can be made payable to the Empty Stocking Fund and mailed to P.O. Box 400, Colorado Springs, CO 80901.