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And from the Buttonwood Bay coastline to the inner city of Antelope Street extension, they say lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place, but what about fire? That's what happened toMary Meighan - who became a 2 time fire victim. Jomarie Lanza met her picking up the pieces for the second time this year:
After losing everything to a house fire in March of this year, Mary Meighan and her family were slowly making progress towards rebuilding the life she had worked for to give her kids. And just when she thought she was finally back on her feet again, her house burned down for a second time this week, forcing her to start all over.
Mary Meighan, House Fire Victim
"I had just come from work and I was relaxing in my bed I wasn't sleepy, I wasn't sleepy so I was laying down in my bed but then I smelled a wire burning and I woke my gentleman and I told him check and see if the kids fan is burning so when he got up and checked it wasn't that but the house was smoky so I told him to check outside in the cemetery to see if they are burning anything. And when he came out walking and came to the front that's when he saw the smoke di come out from my sister in laws house from through the roof top, and when he opened the door her chair and a side of the wall was already on fire. So we were trying to put it out. I woke my brothers who live there and the next neighbor who lives over there. We woke them and we tried to put out the fire but we couldn't. All I could have done was run to the back and wake my babies for them to run, come out and come to the front with their granny."
Only this time Meighan and now her sister in law are left without a roof. Still unsure as to what had started the first fire, Meighan says that she was much more careful to avoid and prevent the same thing from happening again. But she never imagined that the fire would have spread so quickly between the two houses, consuming everything in its path and leaving them both with nothing.
Mary Meighan, House Fire Victim
"I just went through a fire in March. On March 15th my house burned down and I wasn't here and we lost everything again we couldn't save anything. The only thing we could pull out was a bag that had some clothes from my children only that we could have pulled out and my work computer I pulled out everything else burned so fast that we couldn't save nothing else."
"I can't even process it yet it's been hard. I can't do anything. I don't even have the energy to go to work because it's so hard. All I do is laydown and cry. I got my baby right here who has college. I don't know how I will do it to try to get his things right here on the 26th school is opening. It's really hard and we are just trying."
Those wishing to assist Meighan and her family can reach her at 6025677
