RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – A Rankin County woman is picking up the pieces after a small battery destroyed her home and her home-based business.
The fire broke out Sunday morning on Rankin Ferguson Road.
Homeowner describes the moments before the fire
Michelle Carney said she was finishing up painting and preparing for bed early Sunday morning when she noticed her cat acting strange.
“He heard something I couldn’t hear, and he was looking toward the bedroom door and acting really weird. By the time I said that, there was this big boom and the house literally shook,” Carney said.
Carney said she quickly identified the problem.
“When I walked around the corner and I saw the battery sitting there, it was glowing blue. Blue streaks were shooting out of it all over the room. Everywhere they landed, there was fire,” Carney said.
Carney also told us fire officials confirmed the battery to a yard trimmer was the root cause of the explosion. Carney said she had been charging the battery inside her hallway to do yard work the next day.
“If I still would have been sitting in that room, the battery would have exploded on me,” Carney said.
Losses include business inventory and a pet
Carney lost her business inventory in the fire. She also lost her cat.
“It’s terrifying. You never know how much is going to sell a week. But I kind of had built that shop so much that I can usually count on a certain amount every week,” Carney said.
“There are a lot of memories here. My cat passed in there. My neighbor helped me bury her yesterday and I’m still looking for the other one. I’m scared she’s in there somewhere,” Carney said.
Carney said one piece of art survived the explosion untouched.
“This is the Lord’s Supper. It’s probably from the ’60s or the ’70s,” Carney said.
What’s next
Carney said she is taking the recovery one day at a time.
“I can’t look at it directly right now. I just can’t look at it right now. I just have to look at this one thing in front of me at a time or I won’t be able to function,” Carney said.
Carney said she plans to rebuild, but what that will look like is still too early to tell.
Carney has started a GoFundMe to help her rebuild her home and business.
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