Electrical fire claims Richlands home

Jan. 04--An electrical fire left a Richlands woman homeless and in need of the community's help over the holiday weekend.

While taking her sister to a doctor's appointment Monday, Pam Lanier's home on Fowler Manning Road caught fire, reducing most of the inside of the home to ash.

And this came just three months after Lanier said her car was rear-ended. She's been out of work since then, recuperating from the crash and going to physical therapy twice weekly.

It took firefighters about 15 minutes to get the fire under control, Onslow County Fire Marshal Brian Kelly said. When they arrived fire was coming out of a window.

The house was deemed a total loss, Kelly said.

The Red Cross came to the home after the fire and offered a couple hundred dollars to Lanier for immediate needs, a large chunk of which was used Monday night to replenish medications at the pharmacy, she said.

The fire reportedly started in a spare bedroom's electrical outlet and melted a surround sound system, which Lanier's daughter, Dennah Hunt said fell on the couch and moved the fire into the living room.

"What didn't burn melted," Lanier said, Hunt adding that "it even melted the refrigerator."

The ceiling fan, now wilting, looks like a weeping willow, Hunt said.

"You walk inside and you're like, 'Oh my god, how is this thing still standing?'" Hunt said.

Lanier was able to save a special sign she was given after Hunt's youngest was born; and Tuesday, Lanier and her sister salvaged artwork painted by their mother.

Now Lanier, only having the shoes she was wearing at the time of the fire and a handful of clothing that was inside the dryer when the fire started, is in need of help.

She is a size 8/10, large, or extra-large in clothing and wears a size 9 1/2 shoes. She also needs furniture and money for food and gas.

Although she owns the property, Hunt said her mother did not have insurance on her home. Lanier said she plans to get another mobile home for the site.

Monday night, Hunt said her mother slept at her house and will likely stay with her sister in the meantime as well.

Lanier said she's considering hooking up a generator to her shed and moving in a twin-size bed so she can sleep on her land and take care of her dogs and chickens, all of which are also in need of food. Though she has some dog food still, the last of the chicken's food was given to them Tuesday morning.

Hunt set up a Go Fund Me page for her mother, GoFundMe.com/help-get-my-mom-another-house, and any donations can be taken to 634 Fowler Manning Road, her dad's house, which is located in front of her own.

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