The Ferguson family lost their longtime family home Friday morning to a fire that started in the kitchen before 2 AM.
Homeowner Kathy Ferguson said that she was asleep in bed when she heard a crash that briefly woke her up. At first she didn’t think much about it until her niece Mona Ellington began screaming about a fire.
“I was sleeping, I heard a crash. I laid there for a second to see if I heard anything else and I didn’t,” Kathy Ferguson said. “I closed my eyes and my niece that I raise was upstairs, and she came running down the steps screaming that fire was coming out of the kitchen window.”
Ferguson’s children Dalanna Ferguson, 14, and Turner Barrett, 6, were also asleep in their mom’s bed when the fire broke out. Josha Chamblee, Ellington’s boyfriend who lives with the family, was also at the home at the time. All five occupants were able to escape the fire along with their five dogs. Kathy Ferguson said that her husband Wendell was on the road driving an 18-wheeler and was not home at the time of the fire. Ferguson’s oldest son, his girlfriend and their child were also away but are residents of the home as well.
Kathy said that she screamed for her daughter and son to get up and get out of the house.
“I went to the kitchen and opened the door and could see the fire on the side of the house,” Kathy said.
Family members said that they believe the fire was set intentionally when something was thrown through the kitchen window.
“Josh said that he heard it crack the window and a car speed off,” Dalanna said recounting the ordeal. “It was a cocktail bomb.”
Brownwood Fire Marshal Buddy Preston completed his investigation late Friday morning and said there was no evidence of a bomb or arson. Preston said that he looked through the home and also worked his arson dog Nika at the location. He said that Nika did not indicate any accelerant was used on this fire.
“I test Nika on just drops. If a bottle of accelerant was used, she would have noticed it right away,” Preston said. “The glass breaking that they heard was probably caused by the fire.”
Although he has ruled out the use of a fire bomb, Preston said that he cannot determine what started the fire.
The family is currently staying at a hotel for the next week with some assistance from the Red Cross.
“We lost everything that meant the most to us. The only thing we got out with is what we had on, but at least my babies are out,” Kathy Ferguson said. “My husband was raised in this house.”
Kathy said that her in-laws bought the two-story house in 1983. She said that her nephew Nick Ferguson was also raised in this house.
“My childhood is right there,” Dalanna said pointing at the ruins of the home.
The Brownwood Fire Department and city crews helped make the scene safer by tearing down the chimney of the home Friday morning. (See video below).
(See video below).
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