ELKTON, Md. — A fire, which started behind the home on Normira Avenue in Elkton on Wednesday night, came when four of the eight family members were tied up with work on the holiday, and Mandy Roberts is not convinced it was an accident.
“They could have killed everybody, the animals, everything,” said Roberts, “I’m just glad my son realized it and screamed for everybody to get out, especially my grandmother, because her room is right there and is 82-years-old… can barely walk, has strokes, heart attacks all the time.”
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Roberts’ mother, Kimberly Smith, recently moved back into the home with her ailing mother, her daughter, her son and several grandchildren after previous renters stopped paying their monthly bills.
In addition to putting a roof over their heads, she has been recovering from a massive heart attack.
“Her teaching job had her retire early, because she couldn’t pass I guess the health standards to go back and that wasn’t enough and the people here stopped paying their rent for three months so hasn’t got paid in six months and then now she’s paying two mortgages trying to keep everybody up—-the bills, missing car payments and doing the best she can,” said her son, Michael Roberts.
The family was in the process of making the place livable again when the fire started on the exterior of the home behind the kitchen and spread to an addition.
The cause of the fire remains a mystery for now, but investigators tell us they have not ruled out smoking materials.
Michael Roberts says that wouldn’t add up since only his two nephews, a niece and his grandmother were home at the time.
“None of them even smoke and it’s cold. They’re inside playing video games,” said Roberts, “There’s nobody out there smoking."
He’s convinced shoddy electrical work or arson are better bets, but the one thing certain is that a family already desperately in need of help now will need even more, and he’s launched a GoFundMe account if people would like to help the family rebound from the fire.
