Family loses mobile home, possessions in fire

Jan. 20--WARRENSBURG -- A rural Warrensburg family lost all their possessions when their mobile home on Route Y burned.

Sherry Swope, a single parent who works two jobs to support herself and son, Tim Russell, said she did not have insurance on the contents or the trailer they called home for eight years.

Russell, a University of Missouri-Columbia sophomore, saw smoke coming from the roof when he arrived home Jan. 13 and called the fire department, she said.

But by the time firefighters arrived, the front part of the trailer that housed Swope's bedroom, a bathroom and an office, "was pretty much gone," Swope said.

She said the rest of the trailer sustained heavy damage from the smoke and heat. The structure is a total loss.

A house cat died in the fire.

Firefighters said the fire may have started from a short in a space heater left running in the bathroom to thaw frozen water pipes, she said.

Picking through debris Monday in an attempt to salvage mementos, Swope explained why she did not have insurance.

"I had to choose between paying bills or (buying) house insurance." Choking back tears, Swope said, "We didn't have much, but it was our home."

She said Russell "lost all his memories" of his life, including his 4-H ribbons, letter jacket and Boy Scout items.

Ironically, she said, Russell's Eagle Scout project consisted of making care kits for rural fire victims. The fire department offered him one of his own kits, she said.

Swope said she has been staying at her mother's house and Russell stayed with friends.

A friend has offered her a place to stay for a few months, she said, and she plans to accept.

She said she works full-time in recreational therapy at the Missouri Veterans Home in Warrensburg and works as a home health aide on weekends. Her employers have given her the week off, she said.

This week, she focused on getting Russell back to school.

"He brought everything home with him" over Christmas break, Swope said, and lost everything in the fire.

Friends helped provide Russell with bedding and clothes, she said, and she returned him to school Sunday.

A 4-H fire fund has been set up for Swope at Central Bank in Warrensburg. A neighbor, Melissa Ginther, has set up a GoFundMe account.

Dr. Chuck Barry at Lifetime Animal Center, who helped Tim with his Eagle Scout requirements, also accepts donations for the family, Ginther said.

Ginther said she has known Swope for years.

"I absolutely love her. She and Tim are just real good people," Ginther said.

Ginther said Swope works hard "and would never ask for a handout."

"What she had is gone, and I'm just sick over it. I never stood and watched somebody lose everything. To watch what little they did have burn to the ground is heartbreaking," Ginther said. "We don't have a lot, either, but if we all do a little bit, we can get a lot done."

Swope said she hopes to obtain another trailer by the time Russell returns in March on spring break.

"I want us to be together and for him to have a home to come back to," she said.

TO DONATE

Donations to the GoFundMe account can be made at www.gofundme.com/xpjt9f7g.

Donors can leave contributions at both Central Bank locations in Warrensburg or at Lifetime Animal Center.

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