An 82-year-old Muskogee woman says she is grateful for help she received from her neighbor, her relative and her church after losing nearly all her possessions in a fire.

“It was just a matter of minutes, very few at that,” Mary Hammons said, looking over the blackened remains of her mobile home, porch and a handicap access ramp church members had built for her. “I lost everything and I am still blessed. I got my little niece, Connie Brown. She was kind enough to take me in.”

Assistant Muskogee Fire Marshal James Ledbetter said Hammons’ fire was reported at 6:43 p.m. Sunday at her home at 1004 Wood St. He said it was caused by a short in Hammons’ electric scooter wheelchair.

“I had just gotten back from church, and I went to the kitchen and got some cool water and I went back to the hallway when my neighbor knocked on my back door and said, ‘Get out, get out, get out, your house is on fire,” Hammons said with a rasp. “Hear my voice? It still is spitting out black stuff.”

Hammons said the neighbor, whom she knows only as Melissa, saved her life.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it hadn’t have been for her,” she said. “All I know is that she took me across the street, and I survived.”

She said that, although firefighters were not able to save her house, her niece was able to recover something dear to her.

“All I could think about during the fire was I had my husband’s ashes on the dresser, and she came after the fire and brought me my husband’s ashes,” she said.

A Muskogee resident since 2006, Hammons is living with her niece while they handle issues surrounding insurance and finding a new home. She said she has received a debit card from the American Red Cross, and Larry Ford of Cornerstone Church gave her groceries.

Ledbetter said shorts can be a problem with any electrical equipment, not just electric wheelchairs.

“That’s why we advise against using extension cords, though I cannot say if this was the case with the fire or not,” he said.

He said he is not aware of electrical short problems involving electric scooters.

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