(Provided photos) Fundraiser for Yvonne Vallett by Jessica M : Help my sister’s family- Magoffin house fire (gofundme.com)
Carol Magoffin has started over many times in life.
After an electrical fire at her apartment on Broadway Road in Alexander, she and her four children will be starting over again. The family moved to 3274 Broadway Road in April 2018. It was the only apartment available in Alexander at the time.
On Saturday, Magoffin and her children were in Canada at the time of the fire.
(Provided photos)
“My daughter got a notification on our camera that motion was detected in moms’ room and we looked at the camera and seen the smoke. We were in Canada on a spur of the moment trip for my middle daughter’s 15th birthday. My daughter called my mom (in Batavia) and she called 911. I also called 911 from Canada. They transferred me to Buffalo, and they got me to Genesee County. Fire was on scene within 15 minutes of the start of the smoke. If my daughter didn’t see it and call, the whole house would be gone,” says Magoffin.
Magoffin’s daughter, Alexis, 16, lost her lifelong friend Diablo the cat, who perished in the fire. A pet hamster was found alive, buried in its bedding and brought out of the rubble in its cage.
“Medics and firemen tried CPR and oxygen, but our cat is gone.”
Magoffin and her children are now staying with her mother in Batavia on her living room floor.
“We just got back from Canada last night. So, today I started calling Red Cross, the pharmacy to replace medications and insurance.”
Provided photo-Alexis 16
Patricia 14
Jonathan 7
Jamison 7
Magofinn says the fire started in her bedroom that she shares with her 7-year-old twins. She says the phone camera showed an electrical fire in the wall.
“The landlord has been informed of the black plugs and oven that is shorted out, and the circuit breaker that popped often and they say to just pop the breaker back on.”
The home is owned by Batavia Home Rentals. Luckily, Magofinn has homeowner’s insurance.
Magofinn is a Respiratory Therapist at Strong Hospital. After losing everything in the fire, she ordered scrubs so she can return to work this week.
“During COVID I went back to college and became a Respiratory Therapist and was starting to save to buy a safe house.”
For now, she will have to provide a ride to school for her younger two children, who go to Alexander, and find the time to homeschool the older two children. Right now, Magofinn and her family is need of everything.
“I’m going to get a storage unit for a drop off for donations. Right now, Alexander elementary is collecting clothes. Immediate need is for plastic storage drawers to put our stuff in, along with gift cards for Walmart/Target/ Amazon. I have PayPal@Carolynmagoffin1, cash app@$CarolMagoffin and Venmo @mommagoffin .”
Link to GoFundMe below:
Sucks. I lived in a place where the breakers kept popping and the city inspector was there twice in one week because my kitchen outlet kept shocking me. We saw a well dressed young man leave the basement in socks after the breaker popped, 2 minutes later the house went up in flames, I hobbled over to the pizza hut to pee with a broken foot after kicking down the screwed shut fire escape. The landlord was there with a hot pizza on the table, about 5 minutes into the fire. All reported to the Fire Chief. This was 2 weeks after the landlords other house took a 50,000$+ hit for bed bugs. He also has another property burn down in Byron. I know someone over at Preston Courts too, same thing there. Dryer pops the breaker, Stove pops the breaker, AC pops the breaker, plugging in a vacuum to living room outlet pops the breaker…… They don’t care, unfortunately.