St. Ann Family House Fire Prompts Massive Community Response

Last Saturday, Community Fire Protection responded to a call that a St. Ann home on St. Christopher had caught fire in the middle of the night which ended up burning completely. The family escaped, but unfortunately lost all of their possessions and their cats.

Inspectors determined that the fire was caused by a mixture of aluminum and copper wiring that caught aflame during a surge. The fire burned extremely hot, so much that it affected the surrounding area. According to an anonymous email sent to Ward 2 Alderman Amy Poelker “the fire department [also] evacuated both houses on each side” and that one has heat damage on the side.

“This can’t be real,” was Rebecca Mason’s, the victim who’s a wife and mother expecting another child soon, first thought when escaping the flames. What followed was a rapid-fire response of thoughts of her pets, irreplaceable valuables, and a birthday present she intended to give to her daughter Sam. Unfortunately, nothing would be able to calm her thoughts as the firefighter’s could only recover the family’s wallets.

“Firefighters did all they could,” she explained continuing “but the fire was too hot and too fast and smoke inhalation claimed our cats.” Thankfully, animal control was able to recover the bodies of the Mason’s pets for the family to bury them.

The St. Ann community quickly jumped in to assist, with one taking in the family's child while the parents answered questions and later made breakfast for everyone.

“Neighbors came from streets over to make sure we were okay and help us out. We fled without even grabbing our shoes, and a neighbor donated shoes to my husband and me. Other neighbors brought blankets, coats, and water. One of our next door neighbors even gave my daughter a stuffed animal because my daughter lost everything,” explained Rebecca.

Losing a home couldn’t have come at a worse time. Rebecca is considered a high-risk pregnancy, and works full-time as an author and artist while her husband, Michael, is in his practicum to complete a Masters in Education while pursuing license to practice therapy and mental health management. She already had concerns of her long recovery time costing her job expressing that “my income is absolutely critical to my family, and without it, the consequences could be very dire.”

The days following this tragedy say a massive rise to aid the Mason’s, who as of writing this article have raised over $4,000 and have many of the items needed for the new baby already donated. “We have people who have donated a lot of what we'll need to get started, but we need a place to call home,” stated Rebecca.

Local leaders were also astounded at the swiftness of hands willing to help out a community member as Alderman Poelker described: “It’s acts such as these that define St Ann as “Forever Home”. Our residents look out for each other daily, it's like living in a small Country town, but within a huge Suburban area.”

The family is still collecting donations to recover from their and any assistance can be sent here.