 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
One McRae family is without a home after their house burned to the ground earlier Thursday.
Making things even more difficult for the family, their husband and father is thousands of miles away serving with the Arkansas Guard in Iraq (web|news) .
Jennifer Castera and her six sons were just beginning to adjust to life without her husband and their father when a fire took everything they owned.
This used to be a house it was home to Jennifer Castera, her husband, who is currently serving in Iraq, and their six sons ages 14 to 2. Now, it is a pile of fiery embers.
One of Castera's sons was home sick Thursday morning when he heard crackling sounds and then saw flames. He escaped unharmed, but the fire made its way into the old home's ceilings.
But it was no use--fire fighters could only save a few items.
Not surprisingly, the small community of mcrae instantly rallied around the casteras-bringing in diapers and whatever else they could give. But even with the community's support, the future is daunting for Jennifer Castera.
Fire officials do not know yet how the fire started. As for Castera's husband, they have put in a request for him to return home to be with his family, but they do not know if it will be granted.
(Castera) "I have six boys and all their clothes and all they're stuff is in that house. Where am I going to find a five bedroom house, for one thing, that was a five bedroom home. I don't know where to start."
(McRae resident) "If you need anything, anything, just let me know."
(Bob Sullivan, McRae Mayor and Firefighter)"We fought it extremely hard with four fire departments here and all the equipment we could handle in our well."
(Jennifer Castera, fire victim)"I, just the other day, said, you know, I think I'm going to be okay, I think I'm going to make it through this deployment and then this-and now I just want to scream, I want to cry, I want to go hide in a hole."
Channel 7 News to leave comments on news stories.