Neighbors get elderly woman out of home

April 30, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Margaret Beverly saw the flames next to her home on North Garland Avenue and Valley Street, but that was about all. The 88-year-old woman was awakened by neighbors after midnight Tuesday as the vacant house next to hers caught fire and threatened to burn down her house as well.

Yvette Rogers Prater, who lives on Arch Street, said her brother was coming home from work and drove by the neighborhood to check on their brother, who lives on Pearl Street, when he noticed the fire and told their mother, who called 911.

Prater said the home is very close to Beverly’s, and they were worried for her safety. She and her brother went there, managed to get inside, and wake her.

The vacant home burned to the ground but there still were embers snapping and crackling Wednesday afternoon. All of the windows on the right side of Beverly’s house were blown out by the fire, and the siding and shingles on that side of the house were warped.

“If my brother and I couldn’t have gotten to her, she would have died,” Prater said.

Beverly’s grandson, Willie Stanley, was on hand to help his grandmother move in with him until she can get her home repaired. He said his grandmother was not happy with that.

“She wants to come back over here, but I told her that’s not happening,” Stanley said.

Beverly said she had no idea there was a fire so close to her home. With just one good eye because of glaucoma, she said when she was awakened, she could only see the flames.

There were two other vacant homes next to the one that burned down in recent weeks, but they, too, caught on fire and were quickly demolished the next day.

There are several vacant homes in the immediate area, and Prater said she was worried that someone was going around setting them on fire.

Prater said that Beverly’s lights were still on when the fire started even though she was asleep, so whoever set the fire at the vacant house had to know there was someone inside the home next door, which she said upsets her.

Although Beverly lives alone, neighbors make it a habit to check on her regularly, Prater said.

“She’s not alone,” Prater said.