House Fire Destroys Family’s Home
A family of three lost everything in their Oak Tree Heights home to a fire which broke out Monday at 4:55 a.m. A neighbor, Sandra O’Toole, saw smoke coming from the Hendersons’ home and called 911. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 5:07 a.m. and took two hours to extinguish the blaze. All three family members were transported to Hillcrest Hospital and reported to be in good health. However, their dog, Jackie, is still missing.
James Henderson, 42, says, “We’re just thankful that we made it out safely. We didn’t even hear the alarm sound, so it caught us off guard when we smelled smoke coming from the basement. We ran out of the house and made it across the street just in time.” According to Fire Chief Rick Ramirez, a malfunctioning dryer caused the blaze. Though the house had five smoke detectors, none of them worked properly.
This marks the 10th fire in the last six months, which have resulted in three deaths and six injuries. All but one of the fires occurred in residential neighborhoods. Though the causes are not associated, in seven of the 10 recent fires, there were either no smoke alarms or non-working smoke alarms. Ramirez says, “Not having working smoke alarms is a very common occurrence. Over the course of my career, I’ve dealt with 10 similar cases. That’s why on Saturdays, we hold fire safety classes that are free and open to the community.”
James and Jennie Henderson own a local bakery called Baking Boston. Their son Charlie, 15, attends Oak Tree High School. A GoFundMe page has been created to raise money for the family. Jennie Henderson, 40, says, “The worst part is losing our photos. Our memories were in that house.”
