ASHLAND — The community has rallied to support a single mother of four children recover from the loss of their house to a fire over the weekend.
A fire destroyed a house at 507 Edgehill Ave. on Sunday. The house was unoccupied during the fire. Two dogs were rescued, but the children’s pet rabbits perished, officials reported.
Since the blaze, a family member created a GoFundMe page, which has purportedly raised more than $21,000, as of Monday morning.
“Unfortunately, they could not afford homeowner’s insurance, so our community is the best bet to get them back on their feet,” reads the fundraiser webpage. “Let’s show some support and help out this family who has been an integral part of the Ashland community their whole lives.
“As the four kids start their school year, let’s show them they are supported by their friends, families and neighbors.”
The single mother of four has owned the house since 2017, when she bought it for $12,000, according to county real estate records. The house wasn’t livable, said her cousin, Brandon Stamets.
“But she made it livable. She remodeled it and everything,” he said. “And she did it all on her own. She just remodeled her bathroom. And she was working on the outside to make like a little shaded area for the dogs.”
Ashland fire officials said a ball of rags doused in oil-based stain might have been what started the fire.
Oily rags can cause fires?
Yes.
When crumpled, oily rags can spontaneously combust. This is because of the heat generated by the oxidation of certain oils, like linseed oil and vegetable oil, within the cloth. Heat produced by the crumpled rags can cause the temperature to rise and lead to a fire.
To prevent this, spread out oily rags to dry completely. You can also store them in a metal container filled with a little water and keep it away from other materials.
Capt. Mark Miller encouraged people to read the warning labels on oil-based materials, such as paint, paint thinners, lacquer and stains.
Source: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/concessions/upload/SF-Alert-Rags-20230517.pdf
“It’s kind of like an oxidation process, but quicker,” said Ashland Fire Division Capt. Mark Miller. The 20-year veteran firefighter said he’s seen three or four similar fires in Ashland.
Miller said physical evidence on the scene suggests the fire started outside, near a pen being built for the pet rabbits.
“Unfortunately, they had worked on that area with this oil-based stain on Saturday for a couple of hours,” Miller said. “They let it dry overnight. And then the mom took her kids to the zoo for a last-fun-thing before school starts. They left Sunday morning and came home to the house completely burned down.”
Miller said oil-based stains, paint, thinners and lacquers can combust spontaneously, but then the progression of the fire is typically rapid.
“The fire develops very rapidly from the outside and unfortunately it’s connected to the house and able to spread through the first-floor window and second floor. Once in the house, well, there’s an abundance of fuel there. And all the construction for the rabbit pen area was wood,” he said.
‘It was really scary’
Stamets, 23, said he grew up in the house as an unofficial adopted son. He doesn’t live there anymore, but he happened to be next door when he discovered the blaze.
“I was sitting on the couch for not even two minutes. I smelled something and then saw there was a fire; I called 911. It was up in flames in about four minutes,” he said. “It was really scary.
“They lost everything. They lost the school clothes, all their pictures from when they were younger, all the new stuff they just got.”
Miller said his heart hurts for this family.
“It’s just a terrible accident. I really feel for these folks,” he said.
Community support
The family, on Sunday, requested clothing items for the children. Steve Miller, the homeowner’s brother, said the community had graciously provided all of the clothing items by Monday morning.
Miller said the money raised from GoFundMe will go toward a downpayment on a new house, paying for damages on neighbors’ houses and buying furniture for their future home. He also said he’s already researching contractors to demolish the destroyed house.
“We’ve gotten great support so far,” Miller said. He emphasized that Donna D’s Pizza — where his sister works as a manager — has been tremendous.
He thanked the workers there, the neighbors and other community members for their support so far.