Family asks the community for help after house fire
JACKSON, Tenn. – While preparing for the funeral of a relative, one family is now suffering the loss of three more family members due to a house fire.
After losing four family members in a single weekend, they’re calling upon the community for help.
“I don’t even know what to say. You can’t imagine losing three people you love. Well four people you love all in a single weekend,” said Clifford Walton, a family member of the victims.
The fire occurred early Monday morning at a residence on Hansford Place in Jackson.
Three of Clifford Walton’s family members – his cousin 32-year-old Jeymar Edmond Stone and two aunts Carolyn Spencer and Catherine Gooch – were involved in the fire.
All three were taken to Regional One Health Center in Memphis in severe condition.
Walton said due to smoke inhalation during the fire, the three have since passed away while in the hospital.
“This is the first time I’ve ever had any circumstance this close to home to where this many family members are gone in 48 hours,” Walton said.
Walton says the Jackson Fire Department told him that his cousin, Jeymar Edmond Stone, most likely woke up, realized there was a fire, called emergency services, and then, unfortunately, passed out again.
“If he wouldn’t have called 911, even before he passed out, they wouldn’t have even known they were there,” Walton said.
Walton described Stone as a hard worker, outgoing, and lived his life to the fullest.
He described his two aunts who are sisters, Spencer and Gooch, as outgoing and loving people and amazing cooks.
“They both baked and cooked like crazy. My aunt, she could make these rolls like nobody else could. She made lemon meringue pies and stuff and baked cakes and everybody loved them. My other aunt, she did the same but she would also make just different other stuff. They just were great cooks and when we had any family event, they were cooking,” Walton said.
Now, with the weight of four family tragedies bearing down upon them, the family is asking the community for help.
“Right now we can’t find anything, so we’re also asking the community if anybody knows how we can find insurance stuff or social security stuff. We don’t even know if they had a will. We’re trying to find a will. We just need help because this family we stick together and we’ve already had some help but any help is appreciated,” Walton said.
Walton says he believes a lot of important documents they need could have burned in the fire, and is asking if anyone can help guide them on how to retrieve insurance information.
“So we’re just trying to find out if people have any idea on what we can do to find this information or what possible routes we can go so that we can, hopefully, get the insurance to take care of this stuff. But if not, we do need financial help because the family is going to have to foot a lot of the bills until we can find this insurance stuff,” Walton said.
And even during this time of mourning, Walton is not losing faith.
“I love this community, and so I know they always step up. They always have to help people and so I just appreciate everyone,” Walton said.
If you have any information that could help the family or if you want to donate, you can call Clifford Walton at (731) 234-9948.
Contact information can also be found here.
Walton and the family also expressed their thanks to the Jackson Fire Department and the firefighters who responded saying “They went above and beyond and are heroes.”
Find more local news here.
