Amanda Henderson was at work when her cousin and her neighbors phoned to say her house was on fire. Surveillance video shows someone igniting a blaze on her porch.
A Wisconsin mother of three is struggling to rebuild her family's life after someone set fire to her house, destroying everything they owned.
Amanda Henderson said she was at work when her cousin, who was staying with her, called to say the Milwaukee house was on fire. Then her neighbors began calling.
Ultimately, the police came to her job and showed her video from a neighbor's surveillance camera. The footage showed a man igniting a blaze on her porch. After seeing that, "I was sick to my stomach," she said.
Thankfully, Henderson's three sons, ages 8, 6 and 2, were with her at work when the fire began at around 2 a.m. March 3.
The mother is employed as a living assistant.
"Luckily, I switched my schedule because I would've been at home that night. But I guess it was God's plan for me to switch that schedule, and I stayed at work with my kids," Henderson said.
The blaze tore through her home, and her cousin suffered second-degree burns as he ran to escape, she said.
"He has a lot of healing to go through, and his chest and stuff still hurts. He's still coughing up all that," she said. "He can't sleep. He keeps waking up, jumping up," she said. "He's all burnt up."
Milwaukee police are investigating the arson fire. Anyone with information is asked to call the department at (414) 935-7360.
Henderson said she doesn't recognize the man in the surveillance video.
The mother has started a GoFundMe page to help her and her sons. They are "starting from scratch," she said. "And I literally just bought a stainless steel refrigerator that didn't even make it to the kitchen and it's all burnt down."
For now, the family is living with Henderson's mother, she said.
Related Stories
