CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A mother is devastated after a large fire tore through her home in Chesterfield, leaving her family displaced and her late son’s ashes to be recovered.
Stephanie Reamer is grieving the loss of her home after a large fire blazed through the building on Jan. 13, displacing her family of three children and sister, as well as leaving her late son’s ashes to be recovered from the home’s debris.
On Saturday, Jan. 13 at around 10 p.m., Chesterfield Fire and EMS officials received a report of a structure fire at the 13400 block of Pharlap Turn. When they arrived on scene, they saw a large fire burning on the back porch of Reamer’s home and spreading further into the building.
Reamer said she bought the home five years ago when she was looking to start a stable life for her and her family, however the house fire that took place on Saturday seemed to burn those efforts away.
“It’s scary to think that you have to do, you know, everything you worked your whole life for all over again,” Reamer said.
According to Reamer, her family had been roasting marshmallows on the back porch of her home earlier that night. When they were finished, Reamer poured water all over the fire to put it out.
“It was cold, so we did some marshmallows on the back porch and then I put out the fire, I pour water all over it, and we go inside to turn off the lights. We go upstairs and go to bed,” Reamer said. “I happened to be Facetiming with my mom and I just glanced [from] my peripheral view and I see this glowing, like orange and red just out of the bathroom window.”
Reamer then realized the orange glow coming from her bathroom window was a fire and quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher from her kitchen sink to try to put it out. She started to spray the patio umbrella, but the flames continued to spread.
Reamer’s next door neighbor, 8-year-old Ellie Emmett, saw the house fire through her kitchen window as she was Facetiming her friend. She then told her parents quickly what was happening across the street.
“I saw it, it just was all the way up to the second floor,” Emmett said when describing Reamer’s house on fire. “I just [stood] still for a [second] and then I sent a picture to my mom and my best friend Ava, then I started running and calling [for] Daddy.”
Emily Emmett’s father, Donnie Emmett, called 911. Her mother, Desiree Emmett, made sure Reamer’s children were safe from the house fire.
Reamer’s sister, Heather Monger also lived in the home with Reamer and her children, and was in the area when the house caught on fire.
“I was two streets away when I was asleep and got woken up by my mom calling me, and I just answered the phone and she said, ‘Your sister’s house is on fire. You need to get over there,’” Monger said.
When Monger drove up to the house, she said she saw dozens of fire trucks, first responders and police outside and began to worry about her family. She then ran up to the home and felt overwhelming relief when she saw her family was safe with their neighbors.
“At that moment, I didn’t think about everything that I lost, everything that [my family has] lost,” Monger said about seeing her family safe from the house fire.
Reamer and her three children were all able to get out of the home safely with no reported injuries. According to Fire and EMS crews, the fire was marked under control within 40 minutes of their arrival on scene. The cause of the fire was said to be accidental.
Reamer said she is grateful all of her children are safe, however the ashes of her late son Jackson, who passed away seven days after he was born, are still inside of the home. Jackson was her four-year-old daughter’s twin brother.
“I had an urn with his ashes and the fire marshal tried to go in [the house] and look for the urn last night, but he said it was cracked,” Reamer said.
Reamer said she does not know if Jackson’s ashes will be able to be recovered from the home, but is staying hopeful for the possibility.
The Red Cross is assisting Reamer’s family. Neighbors in the community also told 8News they will be helping the family in anyway they can.
Chesterfield Fire and EMS is continuing to investigate this incident.
