Video: Local Educator and Family Picking up the Pieces After House Fire

by Victoria Bailey

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI)—When the seasons change and the temperature begins to drop… dealing with a fire can be the furthest thought from your mind. For New Hope Assistant principal, Sammy Sullivan, it became a reality just 3 weeks ago.

October is fire safety month. According to the National Fire Protection Association, a large number of home fires do little or damage and are never reported. In the case of the Sullivan family, the blaze got out of control.

It’s the phone call that changed everything for New Hope Assistant Principal Sammy Sullivan.

“My wife and I were out eating and my son was at the football game and we got a call that said there is a fire truck in our yard. We pull up and it was half engulfed at that time and we had a metal roof and brick on it so the fire fighters could not get to all the fire so it just continued to burn through,”said Sullivan.

Within thirty minutes, his house was completely engulfed in flames.

Sullivan says this has been a trying time but the love and support of the community and school is helping his family recover.

“They have rallied with food clothes a place to stay. I’ve had over a half dozen people contact me and say hey look we got a place for you to stay you know just move in. Like the children here at the school took up a donation that Friday after the fire and it was like four hundred and twenty dollars they just pulled out of their pockets. Then the following Tuesday they raised over eight hundred dollars,” said Sullivan.

District three Fire chief Wayne Doyle, who worked the Sullivan fire, says taking preventative measures is key.

“Don’t put a cord under a rug don’t use an extension cord for permanent wiring check your cords on your lamps and appliances and make sure a mouse or something hasn’t been chewing on it,”said Doyle.

Sullivan says he wants this to be a learning experience not just for him but for others.

” Don’t keep your insurance policy in your home. Put it in your safety deposit box or your fire proof safe. When the time comes you’re going to need that to look at. The policy is going to answer a lot of questions for you. If it burns up in the house you’re going to have to take extra steps to get a copy and rely on information from others,” said Sullivan.

The Sullivan family also received assistance from communities as far as Tuscaloosa and Birmingham Alabama.