A Hattieville mother is facing heartbreak tonight after a raging fire reduced her home to ashes, taking with it years of hard work and memories. As she begins the painful process of starting over, unsettling questions are also emerging, she believes the fire may have been deliberately set. News Five’s Shane Williams has more on her story.
Shane Williams, Reporting
What remains of Therese Jacobs’ home is ash and debris. For her, the loss goes beyond what can be seen. It represents years of hard work, sacrifice, and plans for a better future… all gone in a matter of minutes.
Therese Jacobs
Therese Jacobs, Homeowner
“I work hard for my home, hard for my home- laboring and my home is a home. Have everything and more because I’ve helped a lot of people, a lot of people, and I have barrels with stuff to sell for me to open a store, for the village. And they went there and she went there, they called me from there, I spoke with the police and said, Ms. Jacobs your house is going down. I’m like, I don’t wanna hear that. This time now I’m crying because I cannot do nothing. So it really hurts me there. It’s like someone push their hands in my chest and op open it.”
Jacobs was not at home when the fire started. She was working in Punta Negra when she received a call no homeowner ever wants to get; her house was burning and there was nothing she could do. Now, as she searches for answers, she suspects the fire may be tied to an ongoing family dispute.
Therese Jacobs
“I went straight to the police station to find out more or less what’s happening, what caused my home because the young man that I leave there is a certified technician. And I have no problem with wiring, in my home. But when he was there the night that I leave, he sleep there at my home. I think he get a threat from someone, I don’t wanna say next door. And he said, you need to go from here. The land is mine, host is mine, and it’s a family dispute. But before I leave my home, there was someone tampering, the same person tampering with my meter, and he was doing it for a long time because I used to hear the noise and I’m always wondering, what is that noise?”
She claims there had been previous tensions, including threats and suspicious activity around her home raising troubling questions about whether the fire was deliberately set. Tonight, Jacobs is not only grieving what she has lost but also struggling to move on.
Therese Jacobs
“I’m tired, I’m really tired, and I’m feeling myself getting sick, but I’m trying to keep. Calm because God is in control of my life and know that losing everything, it really hurts. It hurts.”
With little more than the clothes she escaped with, she is now appealing to the public for help as she tries to rebuild her life from nothing.
Therese Jacobs
“ I’m need, I need help. That’s what I’m asking. I need some help. I need some support. And I have one or two people that will help me with clothes. I have no clothing. The most I leave my home is like ten piece of clothes, and I’m just, I just need some help.”
Police have not confirmed the cause of the fire, and investigations are ongoing. Meanwhile, anyone willing to assist Therese Jacobs is encouraged to reach out as she begins the long road to recovery. Shane Williams for News Five.
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system
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