Update: A Go Fund Me page exists now to help Katura Williams and her family recover after a fire destroyed their home. Find it here.
Katura Williams, a single mother of 4, is currently staying at the Emerald Sands Inn, along with her children, because a fire destroyed her home on Ennis Circle Wednesday evening. The family was only able to salvage two bags of clothing for five people.
Williams said she just started a job at Dollar Tree two days before, on Monday. “I was at work and got off at 8:30,” she said. Her fiancé, Emmanuel Jones, was already home with their three-year-old son, Immanuel, and Williams’ daughter, four-year-old Journei. He was making dinner while Williams was picking up her other two daughters, nine-year-old Dayahna Johnson and thirteen-year-old Genesis Johnson from Friendship Baptist Church.
While at the house and ready to eat, Williams noticed a small space heater was running. Williams told one of the girls to turn the main heating unit on and “smoke poured from the vent,” she said. By the time the fire department left, two and a half hours later, the trailer’s skirting melted, the inner wiring was fried, and the air conditioning unit destroyed.
A pungent burnt smell hangs in the air now of Williams’ shell of a home. The family was only able to save two bags of clothing and a few toys. The mother said Immanuel is too young to understand. She said, “He keeps saying he wants to go home.”
Williams said she’s currently receiving help from her church, and anyone else who would like to help can contact her brother-in-law, Kris Long. His phone number is 687-9999.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Wondering how to help a family in need?