Prep basketball star hits winning shot, then he and family escape Mint Hill morning fire
Thomas, a 16-year-old junior, was awoken around 3:30 in the morning by his older brother Kevin, who was screaming "Fire! Fire! Fire!" The Thomas' home was burning.
"I'm thinking this is a drill,"
Marcus jumped out of bed.
"It was like we were in the military,"
It was certainly not the night the Thomases were expecting.
After the basketball game,
"He really wasn't in the celebrating mode,"
By then, his wife, Sylvia was home from work and in the kitchen. The couple talked and were in bed by
Not quite three hours later, chaos hit.
"I didn't question him,"
A neighbor,
"We could see the flames in the garage," Mullens said, "about 15 to 20 feet up above it. We could see all the trusses burning in the garage and throughout the house."
As the family sat in front of the house, wearing pajamas and coats, watching it burn down, everyone suddenly began to panic. Marissa, the family's brown and black Siberian cat, was missing. Firefighters later found her hiding in a corner of the home and administered oxygen to the animal, which was taken to the vet and treated for minor injuries.
Early Wednesday afternoon,
His family spent the morning at his brother's house in Mint Hill. The Thomases lost three of their four cars and nearly all of their possessions, including most of their cellphones. The family will be moving into an extended stay hotel, paid for by insurance, as they begin to try to put their lives back together.
"We all made it out safe,"
Marcus, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard at Independence, is the team's leading scorer. He's the only returning starter from last season's 18-11 team. He said he's looking forward to getting back to school and playing again. Independence plays
"This is something I'll never forget," he said. "I'll never forget how lucky we were."
Wertz: 704-358-5133; Twitter: @langstonwertzjr.
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