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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
Woman loses ‘everything’ in fire
By Rachael Seeley
Baytown Sun Published July 9, 2006 When Jewel Lee Lindsey’s granddaughter woke her up at 4 a.m. one morning to investigate a funny smell in the house, Lindsey never suspected a small electrical fire was brewing in the attic.
“We checked the house, but we couldn’t see anything, so we went back to sleep,” Lindsey said.
It wasn’t until flames were shooting out of her roof eight hours later that Lindsey even realized her home was burning.
Lindsey lived in the 12400 block of Myrtle in Barrett Station for nearly 20 years, owned the house, and planned to spend the rest of her life there until fire changed everything.
Though Lindsey, 71, and her two grandchildren, 20 and 14, escaped unharmed, the fire left gaping holes in the roof and walls of two bedrooms; melting clothes, furniture and priceless family artifacts in its path.
“We lost everything,” Lindsey said.
Looters stole what the fire left behind, including a window air-conditioning unit, television set and diamond ring.
Since the June 30 fire, Lindsey and her 14-year-old grandson have been sharing a three-bedroom trailer with her oldest grandson Richard, his wife, and their five children who range in age from 4 months to 14 years old.
The 20-year-old granddaughter is staying with a friend.
In addition to loosing her home, Lindsey lives on a fixed income and struggles with hypertension, diabetes and heart problems.
She asked Habitat for Humanity for help, but can’t meet their requirement to take on a new mortgage.
“She doesn’t have enough funds to get it rebuilt, so we are trying to find out if there are any contractors out here who are willing to help,” said Francine Etheridge, Lindsey’s oldest cousin.
The family hopes a generous donor or volunteers will come forward to help, but their search has had little success so far, and they aren’t sure where to start.
“We’ll so something, god will bless somebody to come and help us,” Etheridge said.
To help, contact Francine Etheridge, Jewel Lee Lindsey’s older cousin, at (832) 863-8369.
Baytown Sun Published July 9, 2006 When Jewel Lee Lindsey’s granddaughter woke her up at 4 a.m. one morning to investigate a funny smell in the house, Lindsey never suspected a small electrical fire was brewing in the attic.
“We checked the house, but we couldn’t see anything, so we went back to sleep,” Lindsey said.
It wasn’t until flames were shooting out of her roof eight hours later that Lindsey even realized her home was burning.
Lindsey lived in the 12400 block of Myrtle in Barrett Station for nearly 20 years, owned the house, and planned to spend the rest of her life there until fire changed everything.
Though Lindsey, 71, and her two grandchildren, 20 and 14, escaped unharmed, the fire left gaping holes in the roof and walls of two bedrooms; melting clothes, furniture and priceless family artifacts in its path.
“We lost everything,” Lindsey said.
Looters stole what the fire left behind, including a window air-conditioning unit, television set and diamond ring.
Since the June 30 fire, Lindsey and her 14-year-old grandson have been sharing a three-bedroom trailer with her oldest grandson Richard, his wife, and their five children who range in age from 4 months to 14 years old.
The 20-year-old granddaughter is staying with a friend.
In addition to loosing her home, Lindsey lives on a fixed income and struggles with hypertension, diabetes and heart problems.
She asked Habitat for Humanity for help, but can’t meet their requirement to take on a new mortgage.
“She doesn’t have enough funds to get it rebuilt, so we are trying to find out if there are any contractors out here who are willing to help,” said Francine Etheridge, Lindsey’s oldest cousin.
The family hopes a generous donor or volunteers will come forward to help, but their search has had little success so far, and they aren’t sure where to start.
“We’ll so something, god will bless somebody to come and help us,” Etheridge said.
To help, contact Francine Etheridge, Jewel Lee Lindsey’s older cousin, at (832) 863-8369.