Tonight, we begin with an unimaginable tragedy for eight siblings and their children. It started sometime after 11:00 last night when a fire broke out inside a home in San Ignacio, trapping a senior citizen inside.
62-year-old Merlene Hendy cried out for help, but even with the neighborhood attempting to break down her door, it was futile. Hendy perished in the fire, her body lay burnt next to the door, with her loyal pet dog not far away.
The tragedy has left Hendy's daughter, Shantel dealing with an immeasurable loss, while also having to start from scratch to rebuild everything she lost.
Courtney Menzies travelled west to speak with the grieving daughter, whose only wish was that she could have saved her mother. Here is that story.
The body of 62-year-old Merlene Hendy was found right here, next to the door she was trying desperately to open after a fire broke out inside her house. But the blaze consumed everything in its path, and less than two hours later, it had torn through two houses and taken the life of Hendy and her loyal little dog, Pebbles. Now Hendy's daughter, who not only not only lost her mother, but everything she owned, is trying to pick up the pieces - and she's asking for help to rebuild, though it won't be easy, especially since the last thing she heard from her mother were her screams.
Shantel Hendy, Daughter of Deceased/Fire Victim
"My mom yelled for me like three times and I said, "yes ma?" She said, "fire!" So, when I opened my door and I ran outside and I run to the door, I said, "ma, open the door for me". She said, "I can't, fire!" Then after that, I didn't hear anything more from my ma. And I jump the fence and I yelled, "help! Help!" Then the tenant, he came out and he assist me, they were trying to bang the door open, bang it open, but it wouldn't open. Everybody came to stomp it, stomp it, but the fire was too huge, so they couldn't get in. When the fire burst the door open, that's the way how we found our mom on the ground. I tried to get my kids out as fast as I could. I told my kids, "fire", then the three run out and left the 3-year-old baby on the bed, and they said, "mommy, the baby on the bed". I ran, by the time I ran in and grabbed him out, the fire was already in my house. So, I ran out with all my kids and everybody just held me. I bawl, I scream, I faint, I don't know what more to say but my mommy shouldn't have died like that. I tried my best."
And not just her - the neighbors tried everything to save Grandma Hendy, including her tenant, who left all his belongings behind in the fire to rush to her rescue.
Eldon Murillo, Fire Victim
"When I reach, I broke open the louvers to try and get in to see but when I flashed in there, I didn't hear nor see her in there, so we came out and we tried to break open the bottom piece of the door and right there we saw her. We tried everything to try and out the fire to get her out, but the fire was too high for us. More than anything, as I opened the louvers, the smoke and the heat knocked me in my face so what I did from there, I backed up from that and moved towards the door because it's a bigger space that we can move, so when we start kick the door, it didn't want to budge for anything, we had to break open the door to get inside but we still couldn't get inside due to the gas tank still had the gas on, pushing more gas inside. When we noticed that, the fire truck was almost there so when we disconnect the hose from where it is on the gas tank and move it from there, we end up trying to use hose from the neighbors, bucket and water from the neighbors to try and out it but literally we didn't save anything, like honestly, nothing, everybody was trying to base on getting Miss Merlene out of the house but it didn't work out."
Now, two adults and four kids are without any clothes, furniture, appliances, even roofs over their heads - everything gone in about 25 minutes - 25 minutes of Grandma Hendy helplessly trapped inside her house.
Her daughter explained that she was matriarch of the home, and even in her sixties, would go out and sell food on the weekends - and her pots and pans were the only part of her home to survive the fire.
Shantel Hendy, Daughter of Deceased/Fire Victim
"My mom was a loving person, she dedicated herself to all her 9 kids, her, I think, 20 grandkids. She was like the breadwinner for all of us. And without my mom, I don't know what more I can do, I don't know. I lost my dad when I was 23 and now I lost my mom when I'm 41, and it's very painful to see my mom burnt like that. My ma goes to sell, every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday she sells rice and beans, bun, meat pie, and she was getting ready to go sell today and this is what happened."
But even while grieving, Hendy has to think about rebuilding her life, and her kids. And with school reopening on Monday, she says she's going to need all the help she can get.
Shantel Hendy, Daughter of Deceased/Fire Victim
"I lost all my school stuff for my kids, I lost everything, my chair, my couch, my stove, my everything that you know is in a house, I lost everything, burnt down, everything, when I tell you everything, everything, I couldn't save anything, birth paper, everything, gone, gone, gone. School is opened and I already had all my things for my kids to go to school, and I lost everything, everything, and school is opening Monday. So, I really need help in any kind of way, any kind of way. Clothes, food, a shelter over my head, I really need everything I lost."
Courtney Menzies
"Would you want, maybe eventually, some building materials to rebuild?"
Shantel Hendy, Daughter of Deceased/Fire Victim
"Yes ma'am, I would love to get some materials to start over, break it down, build it, do a family house, so all of us can live happy and remember the love that we shared from my mom."
And for Murillo, he has a baby due next month and some of the items they'd gotten were lost in the fire - along with everything else he owned.
Eldon Murillo, Fire Victim
"The baby clothes that I had here was the one that Miss Merlene just gave to me because she didn't make it to the baby shower so when I came back, she gave me a bag with the baby clothes and stuff, like bottles, the bottle washer, pampers, clothes, and milk was in the bag. I had that in the room with a couple of my girlfriend's clothes, my clothes, my work boots, my two TV, my bed, the extra bed that was in the other room, the two sofa, the table, the crockpot, everything just gone to waste. Mostly it's just like clothes, sheets, pillows, like necessary things for right now, the food part I could work and make that money to eat but it's just like to mostly put a roof back over my head and get back some clothes so I could move on with my life from here."
Hendy's children are a 15 year old girl, and three boys, 12, 10, and 4.
If you would like to assist her, she could be reached at 639-7131. And Murillo can be reached at 638-1547 or 653-7080.
