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Mother who lost children in house fire speaks out
Mother who lost children in house fire speaks out
CENTRALIA, Wash. -- For the first time since the deadly fire, Sue Tower, the mother who lost all three of her children in a devastating house fire nearly three weeks ago, is sharing her story.
“Those three kids got along so beautifully,” said Sue. “They all played beautifully together, they were literally each other’s best friends.”
Twelve-year-old Ben, 10-year-old Maddy and 7-year-old Sam never made it out of their Ham Hill Road home on March 4.
Now their mother struggles to see her future after losing her babies.
“Times like this I don’t know how I would get by without your community support, your love, your faith. At the end of the night when you’re by yourself, you have to have something to draw on,” she said.
Exactly why the fire started investigators still don’t know. Sue said she woke up to a large crashing sound – but she says the smoke alarms were silent.
The fire erupted behind the front door early in the morning on March 4, but Sue couldn’t save her kids and neither could first responders.
“Those first responders and police, fire chief, they had to do a job that nobody wants to do,” she said. ”I have my own nightmares, and I’m sure they do too, and I just want them to know that I’m so grateful. I know they did everything in their power.”
Three bay leaf trees are now part of the herb garden where Sue works. She planted them right next to a memorial garden so she can be next to the children she dedicated her life to.
“He (Ben) is so full of energy and life, Maddy was my quiet little person who absorbed everything,” Sue said. “We’re a family of nicknames. We had Benny the Bear, Maddy the Mouse and Sam the Monkey.”
Sue hopes to put together a family fun days event at the Northwest Hub where her kids spent time playing and making friends. She wants to return the same kind of love she’s gotten from her neighbors during the darkest time of her life.
“It’s going to be up days and down days,” she said. “I can’t spend every day crying all day, nobody can.”
A celebration of life for the children is scheduled at the Northwest Hub sports complex on Wednesday at 6 p.m.