Toya Graham & Family Displaced By Fire
More sad news coming out of Baltimore….
Toya Graham, the woman who was hailed as a “hero mom” after she was caught on video snatching up her son during the Freddie Gray riots, is now displaced after he accidentally started a fire in the kitchen of their home.
Graham received a frantic Face Time call from her 18-year-old daughter, Teiyona, telling her their home was on fire.
She called me hollering that the house was on fire. The house was on fire,” said Graham.
“When I got there, there were five fire trucks, an ambulance and police,” she recalled. “I could see them [firemen] through the third-floor window. They were throwing stuff out the back window. It was a mess.”
Michael, 17, was home after a stint in Job Corp. He was cooking chicken tenders and the fire started when he stepped away to use the bathroom.
“I came in the kitchen and it was real smoky from the pan,” he said. “Then there were flames coming from the pot. I grabbed a jug of water and threw it on the grease. And it started bursting out in more flames.”
He continued, “I could never grab it because the flames were too big.”
“I told her that I was sorry for what happened,” he said. “She was just like scared for me. She was making sure that I was OK. She wanted to know what was going on.”Toya, Michael, her four daughters, and her granddaughter are staying in a hotel on Route 40 after receiving assistance from the Red Cross, but the money is running out according to Graham and she just wants to go home.
Unfortunately, there are many repairs and inspections that must take place before that happens. Plus, the landlord is very upset.
“I haven’t had communication with [the landlord] since the fire. He was very upset,” said Graham, who did not have renter’s insurance. “He built that kitchen from the ground up. He spent a lot of money on the kitchen. There were new appliances and everything. Now it’s all gone.”
“I’m tired,” she said shortly after completing a double shift Tuesday morning. “I’m exhausted. At this point I don’t know if I have a home.”
A Go Fund Me campaign has been set up to assist the family in their time of need.
