BATH, Maine — Late Monday night, Maria Woodman received the phone call no mother wants: Her baby sitter saying her home was burning.
“My first thought was for my kids,” said Woodman. “All three of them were in bed.”
The baby sitter quickly put her worst fear to rest — the kids were safe, albeit with only their pajamas — but that was only the beginning of an ordeal that threatens to leave Woodman and the children homeless. Monday night’s fire at 20D Windjammer Way in Bath gutted her apartment and destroyed nearly everything she owned. The state fire marshal’s office said the fire started in a dryer vent and intensified when a tank on a propane grill outside popped its relief valve and spewed torch-like fire against the building.
Despite information from the Bath Fire Department, which was published Tuesday by the Bangor Daily News, the apartment did not have a lone male occupant. He was the baby sitter. Woodman, a member of the Morse High School Class of 2005 and lifelong Bath resident, has lived in the apartment with her children for the past three years.
As Woodman made her way home, she was on the phone with friends and neighbors about the extent of the damage.
“I was preparing myself,” she said. “They kept saying my house was gone, but I didn’t believe them. I was hoping people were just blowing it out of proportion.”
They weren’t. The damage to Woodman’s apartment was devastating. Flames tore through the living space and burned through the roof. Firefighters who spent all night at the scene had to cut holes in the floor to douse flames in a crawl pace. The windows and doors were gone and all the furniture lay in charred and twisted heaps. Apartments on either side of Woodman’s were also damaged, mostly by smoke and water.
The American Red Cross has been paying for the Woodman family to stay at a hotel in Bath. That assistance expires on Monday, Jan. 23 when 26-year-old Woodman will use some general assistance funding from the city to pay for another hotel room for two more nights. As of Wednesday morning, though, she and the kids will be homeless. She has hopes of finding another home in the Maritime Apartments complex, but isn’t optimistic that one will be available in time.
“I don’t let my kids know how serious it is,” said Woodman on Saturday. “I tell them, ‘you didn’t like Mommy’s apartment anyway, so now we can get a new one.’ If you ask them where we live, they say ‘we don’t have a home. We live in a hotel.’ As for their toys, I tell them they’re lucky because they get to have another Christmas.”
What she doesn’t tell them is that she doesn’t know how she will replace their belongings. She has little money — she cares for the children full time — and did not have her belongings insured. She and the children’s father are divorced.
Two thrift stores in Bath and the Bath Area Family YMCA have collected and donated some outfits for the children, but Woodman said everything she owns at this point could fit in the trunk of a car. Asked if she will accept donations, she said anyone who wants to help can call her at 837-9698. Her 5-year-old daughter Annabelle wears size 5-6T; 4-year-old Emily wears 4T and 2-year-old Adam wears 2T. The toddler wears size 4 diapers.
Woodman said she fears that when the general assistance money runs out, she will be forced to move into a homeless shelter — if she can find one with space for her family. She’s also concerned for one of her neighbors, Amber Varnum, who also has three children. Varnum, who could not be reached by the Bangor Daily News, also lost a lot to smoke and water damage, said Woodman.
Among the lost items are Woodman’s most valued possessions: hundreds of family photographs. Somehow, a few of Woodman’s items did survive the fire, including one of each child’s Christmas presents: toy puppies that can be “fed” for the girls and a 52-piece train set for little Adam.
“That was just by luck,” she said. “Everything else is gone. I have had moments, but I’m trying to keep it together. Whether I cry or not, my stuff is gone.”
here is a youtube video with more info about dryer fires. at the end of the 3 minute video there is a DYI section on how to clean your vents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vixNauSDz4
please take the time to watch it and keep your family and home safe.
sincerely,
Good video. I’m cleaning mine on Monday.
That is exactly what we did after we heard this story…could not believe the lint we found in there!
I would think since she can no longer occupy her apartment that the landlord would be required to return her rent along with any security deposit she has paid and that she could use that money for motel expenses unitl she can find a new apartment.
Renter’s insurance would cover something like that, but not many people buy it.
True…and it is not expensive…I think people assume it must be expensive.
No…some people just can’t afford it, no matter how cheap it is because they can barely afford to keep their electric on or do their laundry.
Renter’s insurance is $10 to $20 per month. A couple of packs of cigarettes or a few meals of rice and beans instead of meat or McDonald’s.
You have no clue. There are a lot of single mothers out there who have to choose between buying dish soap or toilet paper because they don’t have the money for both. There ARE people who can’t even affort $10-$20 a month. I was one of them for a few years, so I know this from first hand experience.
Actually, OldWench, I do.
I was a single mother with sole custody for many years and always had renter’s insurance. I worked two jobs and went to college, but managed to afford it, in part because something like this happened to friends of mine.
If you could afford it then either you had family members helping you with free childcare or your children were in school….or it was very recently since TANF started helping with the costs associated with actually being able to work. Either that or you neglected your children and left them unsupervised and were a bad parent. Or maybe you had supsidized housing or lived with family members. Back in 1994 there is no way you could have done that living in the same circumstances I was. I had to do it 100% on my own with no help at all from anyone.
In my experience, things that are truly important to someone find a way into the budget, whether it’s tithing or cigarettes or cellphones or meat or Doritos, people find a way to get what’s important to them. You felt you could afford renter’s insurance, whereas I felt I could not afford to go without out.
In a previous comment I alluded to the fact that uninsured friends of mine lost nearly everything in an apartment fire. Because of that, I chose to get renters insurance.
There is no information provided as to how to get donations to this family.
Asked if she will accept donations, she said anyone who wants to help can call her at 837-9698. Her 5-year-old daughter Annabelle wears size 5-6T; 4-year-old Emily wears 4T and 2-year-old Adam wears 2T. The toddler wears size 4 diapers.
(it’s in the article now if it weren’t before.)
I guess your last reply to me went the way of about 30 others! Oh well, it’s always been good bantering with you. :-)
There’s no information as to WHERE the donations need to go, not what to donate. As in, an address or other contact information.
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Last time i checked, the fault lays on the landlord, He is responsible for the maintenance to the apartment/building. It could be easily in a court of law be shown as negligence on the landlord for keeping up the building. And have to pay for the items in the apartment and to put her up in a new apartment.
“Maine Warranty of Habitability
A landlord may be held liable for dangers he or she has no actual
knowledge of. For example, if the wiring of a house is very old and the
owner doesn’t have it checked, he or she might be held liable to someone
who is injured by a shock or a fire. If the owner doesn’t have a
chimney cleaned for many years and the tenant is damaged or injured by a
flue fire, the landlord will probably be liable, even if he or she
didn’t actually know the chimney was clogged. A reasonable person would
check old wiring and clean a chimney.”
My Advice get a lawyer
If your lease or rental contract doesn’t say anywhere that it is your responsibility to clean the dryer vents you can not be held liable and you have grounds for a lawsuit against your landlord for negligence.
The landlord has insurance. She is responsible as a renter to have renters insurance.
But if her loss was caused by the landlord’s negligence then he or she is liable regardless of whether she has renter’s insurance or not.
Well, they can call the landlord’s insurance carrier to see if anything can be done.
I hope so:)
I believe the landlords insurance does NOT cover tenants belongings not matter what, that is why there is renters insurance. Some apartment complexes require proof of renters insurance. (not that I ever bothered to get it when I rented, never could afford it). Such a shame:(
Id rather have $84 a year renters insurance that I couldn’t afford then to have nothing.
i’m sure the landlord is not responsiable for where people put stuff and the cleaning of your own personal dryer, seriously people get a grip and stop looking to be so sue happy!!! i am very sorry that this family lost everything and hope they find a place to live like now and wish i was closer to help!
The dryer vent is a permanent part of the building, not part of the dryer and would be the responsibility of the person who owns the building and all of the equipment permanently attached to it.
It was not a personal dryer…it was a shared laundry facility.
Was it immediately near her apartment or how did this manage to happen?
Blame the landlord for everything. If he is nice enough to let you have a dryer or furnish you one be sure to call him every time you use it so he can come by and clean your lint filter. By all means make him hire a lawyer, your neglagnce to clean you dryer filter as already cost him his building and if someone else is paying the electric bill and you want to leave just crank the dryer right up on high for the maxi time to be sure the clothes will be dry when you return. The best one is when the battery in the smoke detector is dead or removed and the tenant knows it will wait until the landlord comes by to tell him or not tell him at all because the battery is in your radio and the dead battery is in the smoke detector waiting for the fire department to find after the fire. Its to bad we have reached the point in the game where the tenant has become a burdin to the landlord for their daily routine.
This doesn’t happen because of the lint filter. It’s the exhaust VENT that leads outside. While people should check them, a lot of people don’t, and don’t even realize they need to. This would be the responsibility of the landlord to check…but again, many landlords don’t realize they need to do that. So, if you are a landlord then now you know.
She is setting such a wonderful, positive example for these young children to focus on what they do have rather than what they have lost. I love the smile on her face and on the faces of her children. She is so wise not to let them know how serious things are for her. Children should not have to deal with adult issues. That will come soon enough.
Very brave and thankful woman!
I agree with you, she really needs to think positive. I truly hope people kick in and assist her and her family during this hardship.
One of the biggest things against her is people like Lepage and all his rich republican special interest friends. They can turn their backs on situations like this like it never happend and just let them freeze in the street.
Not all republicans are like this however most of them will go along with whatever their boss says.
Keep voting for them and watch it get worse.
too bad there isn’t a wonderful father in the home. I am thankful everyday for the 1 I had and that my brother & I were his 1st priority when we were growing up.
Is there an address or place where we can send or drop off donations? I know I have a lot of clothes that my kids don’t fit into anymore that may help a little.
The mother’s phone # is in the artcle.
Her phone number is 837, 9698
Renter’s Insurance is under $150 a year. I don’t see how anyone can not afford to have it given the alternatives if there is a fire or other disaster. The only other option is to hope a paper like the BDN picks up the story…
I am a single mother and when my children were young I couldn’t afford renter’s insurance. I couldn’t even afford a telephone and was always behind on even the electric bill. In fact, I was lucky to be able to afford to go to the laundry mat. Most of the time I had to hand wash clothes in the bath tub using dish soap and wring the clothes out by hand until I had terrible blisters and hang them up inside to air dry. By the end of the month we’d be using coffee filters and free newspapers as toilet paper. That’s what the life of a single mother on welfare is REALLY like. I never drank or did drugs or any of that sort of thing. I left a husband that beat me and our children. I was scowled at for using food stamps even though I always bought the cheapest foods I could because they never lasted the entire month. Many of the people on here think single mothers on welfare are just living it up, having a grand old time. They have no clue how difficult it is. I have been homeless more than once, too. But you know what…even with how hard it was, it was a heck of a lot better than living with with all that abuse and violence. Back then there wasn’t help with childcare or transportation. It would have cost more than I could make at minimum wage for childcare and transportation. As the kids got older it was easier to finally start making headway to get out of that situation. It would have been much easier if their father would have paid child support, but he would quit a job before having wages garnished.
So yeah…there actually ARE people who can’t afford $150 a year. People shouldn’t be so quick to judge others.
This is the LePage way.
No 1 was ever forced by DHHS to go onto TANF. It’s a voluntary program. each of us is responsible for our own life.
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I wish people would realize that when one is on Social Assistance, even if they don’t drink, smoke or do drugs that it is very difficult to get by and renters insurance is just one of these things that are difficult to afford.
I know home owners that have no insurance, and that is a real shame.
Im sure if you ever rented in your life, you ran right out and bought your renters insurance!
Wish I could help, alas my apartment area is nothing more than a roof with unfinnished walls. Not fit for any life other than the flies that collect in the summer.
Does not the father of said children have a responsibility for them?
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Looks like the negative remarks by the “kick ’em while they’re down” trolls got wiped off the slate. Good!
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Sad to think so many people have nothing better to do than to bad-mouth others in their time of need.
I have come to see that attitude as part of the “just world hypothesis”–the notion that life is fundamentally fair, so anyone who is suffering must deserve it somehow (and then starts to search for character flaws).
It’s a very short-sighted approach. Anyone who is doing OK right now could find their life reduced to rubble in a matter of seconds through no fault of their own. And even if some personal fault had occurred in my hypothetical situation, who among us is without fault or flaw?
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If I had the spare rooms I would let her and her family move in.
As would I. Those kids look like they are well cared for. She must be a good Mom.
My heart goes out to this woman and her children. I know exactly what it feels like to lose everything you own to fire because it happened to me. Everyone has a tendency to remind you that at the very least everyone survived. Nothing could be more true, however, that’s the just the beginning of a long, hard road to reconstructing a life. If I had never been through this I may not have understood the magnitude of “starting over.” My heart aches for this woman and her children.
What happened to us was when moving my husband had a major accident driving a 26 foot Uhaul truck and car dolly. I followed behind in another vehicle with our dog. The Uhaul contained pretty much everything we owned – a lifetime of memories and all of life’s necessities. I was instantly reduced to two days worth of clothing and a small box of “important papers”. The car on the dolly contained my husband’s clothing, golf clubs and a lamp that wouldn’t fit inside the UHaul and, while the car jumped the dolly and was damaged significantly – it didn’t burn. The UHaul had been packed ceiling to floor and we had used every nook and cranny (including inside the dryer) when packing.
My husband escaped with only minor injuries but he was hurt badly enough that I had to figure out on my own what to do next. I was grateful for the fact that he was okay and for the fact that the dog was with me. I was also grateful that I had paid rent in advance. We had both lost our jobs the year prior at the height of layoffs and we had no income except for part of my husband’s military retirement (33% went to his ex-wife). It wasn’t much but it was something. Other than the few things in the car on the dolly and the few days of clothes I had in the car NOTHING else survived.
When we got to Winterport we didn’t even have a chair to sit on. My daughter and I spent her birthday in the back of a burned out UHaul truck and a huge dumpster searching for photographs and whatever we could salvage. The totes we packed and stacked were melted together and once we got inside them using bolt cutters we found – everything was melted together.
So, I borrowed a mattress and box spring and my landlord left us a rocking chair. The Salvation Army gave us $20 each credit to get some clothes. My husband still had a lot of his clothes so I used it to get some sweatshirts for both of us, a coat, a pair of jeans and a pair of sneakers. We had come from Florida and I had no Maine appropriate clothing at all. Together my husband and I went to ask for help from the town of Winterport. Someone told us that in a crisis such as ours the town will sometimes help out. We weren’t successful in getting any help from the town mostly because the only clothing my husband had were expensive golf shoes and nice clothes so I think they assumed a few things… they denied our request for assistance because they said we could live on his portion of his pension but obviously this didn’t take into account that we needed to replace absolutely everything from underwear to forks. We were insured but it took nearly 6 months to settle the claim. The Red Cross eventually answered my daughter’s call but it was many months later after I managed to pull it all together and we no longer needed the help. I am telling this story to offer this family some hope and encouragement because despite the devastation and hurdles we had to cross – we did survive and we are okay.
When one door closes another opens. To BND readers: I will be getting in touch with this family to offer whatever help I can and I plan to ask my daughter if she has any clothing that my grandchild have outgrown or aren’t wearing that she can donate. I encourage others to do the same. This family needs our help NOW…
I am going to look to see if I have any girls clothing left. I just gave away pretty much everything I had in the way of children’s clothing to another family who lost everything to fire.
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There aren’t many family shelters in Maine…and they are usually always full. Unless some kind apartment owner comes forward and either gives her a free month of rent or at least lets her catch up over time she will have to hope General Assistance will pay for a motel for her. Since she was in the same place for 3 years she must be a responsible tenant, so hopefully someone will help her out.
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Oh, they were already here…at least a dozen rude comments were deleted earlier this morning.
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Tragic for this single mom, where is the dad its time for him to come forward and help the kids are beauitful, all kids are beautiful and they need there dad there for a time like this., Unless the dad passed away, but we dont know that
Love your neighbor as yourself. I hope there is a neighbor family willing to take this family in. A church willing to give support during such time of need until she can find proper housing again. She would be welcome to come to my home, however, we are at full capacity at the moment.
Ms Woodman,This is an awful thing,but you have the only attitude about it,You and your kids are ok.The rest will be replaced,You have your babies and smile and a good attitude.Bless you.You are an example to all of us.
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I agree, everyone on here is a judge, hiding behind aliases must make it easy for them.
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No…nothing bad can happen to you IF you are a single mother. If you are two parents and children you get only compassion. Even a father and children with a fire got sympathy from one of the people saying rude things about the mother. In Maine there is a lot of hate towards women going on…especially single mothers.
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My wife and i just spent the past 1.5 hours with this family at walmart. and i must say these young kids are very well mannered and well behaved. She as a mother is very good with her children and very thankful for what they have and certainly not focused on what they lost in the fire. Anyone who can help this family should, we see commercials all the time about helping other countries here is the chance to help our own..
I wish I was closer. I hope that she recieves all the help she needs.
That’s how most single mothers are. That’s just not a convenient reality for the angry folks, though, because they can’t seem to make it through their day without having someone to blame and hate for what’s wrong in their own life. They forgot to read the memo that happiness is a choice.
So what she went to a concert and buys makeup…No one ever expects something like this to happen… Nice of you to kick her while she’s down……
Very nice children…..thank goodness they are all OK. Where is dad? She has these children fulltime? she must be getting child support every week? Does she have a job? how does she live and pay for stuff? If dad is not paying…..this would be an example of DHHS not doing their job in getting support money to the children. Hopefully everything works out OK for the children.
So???? I’m sure that hundred bucks she spent a month ago (not knowing she would lose everything) really wouldn’t do a whole lot for her now. Are you crazy??? I hope you never spend an extra dime just in case something bad happens to you someday.
She could have won the ticket or it could have been a gift.
My family used to give me those kinds of things for my birthday and Christmas because I could not afford to buy or do ANYTHING nice for myself. Let’s hope YOU don’t have a fire and lose everything you own and have people judging you and trying to justify your UGLY, DISGUSTING hatred for someone you don’t even know.
You can buy, a lot of really nice clothes at thrift stores, some with the tags still on them. I used to go the thrift stores and or yard sales, buy nice clothes and resell them on ebay.
Poor people are allowed to have, fun, wear make up, and save money for things they want!
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This woman’s dilemma exactly highlights the issues being debated in the larger political field–what are the proper boundaries of governmental intervention in our personal lives?
This woman has been living in the same apartment for three years, and her youngest child is two years old. so fairly recently there was a man in these kids’ lives. Where is he now? Is there more than one father? Where is the child support? Where are her parents? Where are the kids’ grandparents? Why should the first plan of recourse be government assistance instead of family support?
There’s also been discussion of the use of general assistance and some indications that this young woman had disposable income. She was either at work or out for relaxation the evening in question. At the very least, she had hired a babysitter. Also, independently, some readers indicate she’d attended concerts in the past. So: if someone has disposable income and opts to go out to concerts or Friday night relaxation, should WE THE TAXPAYERS have to supply her now with the necessities of life?
No one wants to see this family homeless. I’m just not convinced this family requires a taxpayer funded “safety net,” particularly if all of this could have been avoided with a $150/year renter’s insurance.
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Regardless of their marital status, the father is obligated to provide support.
My larger question is: “How large do we make the safety net that OBLIGES the use of taxpayer dollars to take care of those who should appear to have the ability to take care of themselves?”
The responses on this website clearly demonstrate that good citizens and neighbors are willing to step up to the plate. I argue that charity can ONLY effectively begin at home. The government should NEVER be in the charity business as that way fraud and misuse occur rampantly.
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If this young lady has been working a job to support her family, she’s been paying taxes into the system and thus deserves and is entitled to assistance from the system she’s been supporting period.
We have to quit thinking of taxes as a personal reserve available for each of us to tap into when we don’t make wise choices. The purpose of taxes is to provide for the civic goods that enable each of us to live good lives–the paving of roads, bridges, schools, the supply and maintenance of a standing army, the delivery of mail, etc.
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Doesn’t matter: he still needs to support his children.
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Is there anywhere we can donate to this family?
anyone who wants to help can call her at 837-9698. Her 5-year-old
daughter Annabelle wears size 5-6T; 4-year-old Emily wears 4T and
2-year-old Adam wears 2T. The toddler wears size 4 diapers.
At a time like this, this young lady needs to lean on friends and family to help during her crisis. That’s what they are there for after all. Whatever happened to “family assistance?”
Maybe she can move in with ” Ayla’s Mom ” and they can have their own TV show.
Who is to tell when someone marries another person if it’s actually going to work out? Unless you are psychic or possess a crystal ball, I doubt that you wouldn’t be able to figure that out before marrying the “wrong person”.
The State has run out of money and resources
The negaitve comments mean nothing because not one of these people would have the gonads to say it to this family in person. Remember it takes a village to raise a child and I feel the village around these precious children and mom will come through.
Mike, I will not be cowed into not making common sense observations simply because you and others think that being rational is “negative” or “hateful.” The 99% are through being financially ravaged by the mindset that we can’t do anything to help ourselves without a government program telling us how to do it. You are right that it takes a village to raise a child, but a village is NOT a governmental program.
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This young woman has a mother who lives in Bath. No need to get political about it.
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Nope. Don’t know her. Went to her Facebook account, which is open to the public. She lists a woman as her mother, whose Facebook account indicated Grandma lives in Bath. Not bitter at all.
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I agree, which is why the government should not be involved. Period. Too many personal choices and decisions to try to get a “one size fits all” government-funded assistance program to address the multitude of factors.
Stop it! You’re making too much sense; getting a headache by beating your head against this wall is not gonna get anyone to comprehend.
So her facebook accounts states grandma lives in Bath.
Does it state what type of living arrangements grandma has? Is she living in a big house with extra rooms, a small one room apartment or an assisted living center?
You have no idea how grandma lives and you have no idea if grandma is in a situation that she can help this young family.
Right. We have no idea because the system in place doesn’t require that we ask these questions. It’s always “use taxpayer money first” and NEVER ask questions.
Honey, if I was a grandparent, even if my apartment was one room, I would find places for my three grandkids to sleep.
You seriously checked her out on FB? You must have a lot of time on your hands. That’s actually a bit on the creepy side.
I’ve been told that’s what it’s there for….
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Fine. Help her. Just don’t make taxpayers obligated to help her.
My family grew up farming. As my granddad said, “anybody who thinks farming is a great way to live has never done it for a living.” Not easy for anybody doing it. And many an “intact” biological family doesn’t do hugs, bedtimes or nurturing. Fact of life. What are we going to do? Create ANOTHER government program to make sure all kids get those things??