During my tenure at Liberty University, having been able to craft my own news story was a plus. Upon exceptional help from Professor Megan Baker, I was able to finalize the piece into the following:
Family of 3 Survives Residential Fire but Loses All Possessions
Soonmee Iwasaki (February 8, 2025)
A family of three loses home in fire. On Monday at 4:55 a.m. a residential fire broke out in the Oak Tree Heights neighborhood located in Boston, Massachusetts.
The father, James Henderson (42), mother, Jennie Henderson (40), and Charlie Henderson (15), were transported to Hillcrest Hospital in good health. James Henderson said, “We’re just thankful that we made it out safely. We didn’t even hear the alarm sound so it caught us off guard when we smelled smoke coming from the basement. We ran out of the house and made it across the street just in time.”
According to Fire Chief Rick Ramirez, a dryer caught fire after malfunctioning. Although the house had five smoke alarms, they were all malfunctioning. One neighbor, Sandra O’Toole, saw smoke coming from Henderson’s home and reported the fire to 911 dispatchers at 5 a.m. The firemen arrived on scene at 5:07 a.m. and put out the flames in two hours.
According to the reports, this is the tenth fire in the last six months for Ramirez. Nine of them occurred in residential neighborhoods and one in an office building located in Cambridge. In seven of the 10, there were either no smoke alarms or they were malfunctioning. The causes are not associated but these 10 fires have resulted in three deaths and six serious injuries.
As Ramirez has witnessed these 10 cases, on Saturdays, fire safety classes are held for the community.
Lastly, a GoFundMe page was created to raise money for the Henderson family so they can replace their belongings lost in the fire. Please notify family or authorities for any sightings of their dog Jackie. She is a yellow lab and collider mix who ran from the fire and is still missing.
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The following is the Fact Sheet provided which the above component was crafted from: