WILLARD, Mo. – Community members in Willard are coming together to support a neighbor in need after she and her family lost their home in a fire.
On Thursday, Diedre Mayden got one of the worst phone calls she has ever received — her children letting her know their home was on fire.
Diedre Mayden is a nurse at Mercy Hospital. She says she is used to being the fixer to problems, not the one who needs help.
“Now this is what’s left of everything we have,” Mayden said.
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Multiple local crews such as Ash Grove and Ebenezer joined the Willard Fire Department Thursday morning to battle the flames at the home on Pine Street.
“There were four different cities of firefighters here, and I kind of just lost it. I couldn’t breathe,” Mayden said. “They had to come and put oxygen on me because that moment, I just saw my world behind me kind of just going up in flames.”
By the time crews arrived, the home and both cars had been engulfed in flames. Mayden’s husband, Chance, their three children and all of their pets were home when the fire broke out.