‘We lost everything’: Fire forces Houston mom, 10 kids from home
HOUSTON – A fire that destroyed a Houston home on Wednesday forced a single mother and 10 of her 11 children to flee, rendering them homeless two days before Christmas.
Members of the Cy-Fair Fire Department arrived at around 4 a.m. to find flames and smoke billowing from the home’s garage, KTRK reported. The home sustained heavy damage from the fire.
The rental home was supposed to be a new start for Catherine Modlies and 10 of her 11 children, the Houston Chronicle reported. Modlies’ youngest child is a 2-month-old boy; her oldest child, 23, does not live at the home, the newspaper reported.
The blaze forced the family to flee the home, with some of the children barefoot and in their pajamas as they ran onto the street, the Chronicle reported.
“This was supposed to be our change,” Modlies, who said she left Louisiana in 2017 after an abusive relationship, told the newspaper. “This was supposed to be better for me and all my kids.”
Modlies said she had picked up her 18-year-old daughter from work and had gotten into bed when they smelled smoke. The daughter alerted Modlies to the fire in the garage, and they began evacuating the children, KHOU reported.
“Thank God for their brothers and sisters,” Modlies told the television station. “Because instead of them panicking they went straight to action. It was not if no buts. They went straight to action. We got everyone out.”
Modlies’ next-door neighbor, Gloria Ntela, was awake when the fire broke out and helped move the family out of harm’s way, KPRC reported.
“All of a sudden, I heard two explosions,” Ntela told the television station. “I feel lucky to be alive.
“I am glad that they are safe. I am glad that they reacted fast.”
Firefighters put out the blaze within 30 minutes, the Chronicle reported. By then, the home was unlivable, fire spokesman Capt. Daniel Arizpe told reporters.
“Even though we lost everything, we got everyone out of this house,” Modlies told the Chronicle. “No matter how hard it is on me sometimes to be a single mom — they fuss and they fight — but I tell you, it made me so proud.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family. and more than $20,000 has been pledged as of late Wednesday.
