Community shows support for family who lost home in fire

By Rayvin Bleu and Hannah Mose

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    CARROLLTON TWP., Michigan (WNEM) — The community is coming together to support a family after they lost everything in a house fire over the weekend.

“They are around the corner from me so when I saw that I thought, ‘They have immediate needs, we need to do something,’” said Kim Rowan.

When Rowan saw that her neighbors lost everything they owned in a fire, she jumped into action to help them rebuild.

“I have children, and I’m also part of this community. And if we’re part of a community, we need to step up and help those in the community,” Rowan said.

She organized a donation drive for Hayley Hathon and her 2-year-old daughter at Big Bill’s Bar in Carrollton Township on Monday, Jan. 15, collecting clothing, toys, and gift cards.

“Pretty much everything, everything that we had in the house is total loss pretty much,” Hathon said.

Hathon’s home on Church Street caught fire during this weekend’s winter storm. Fortunately, her family was not home at the time.

“We were at my sister’s because we lost power the night before and woke up about 6:55 a.m. to a phone call saying my house was on fire,” Hathon recounted.

Hathon said they believe it started after a power surge caused a lamp in her living room to catch fire.

“It was sitting there sparking for a couple hours before flames actually started to show,” she said.

But like a phoenix from the ashes, Hathon and her family will rise again.

In the span of an hour, the drive collected a table full of items, a sign of caring and compassion that Hathon said was overwhelming, but not surprising.

“It’s not a surprise at all. Just I personally wasn’t expecting this much from them,” Hathon said.

When the Carrollton Fire Department arrived on the scene, Hathon’s father was among the firefighters who helped battle the blaze.

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