POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A world-renowned poet and her family, including her 3-week-old baby, were left without a place to call home after their house caught fire, Monday night.
Pompano Beach Fire Rescue responded to the scene of the blaze, along the 700 block of Northwest 17th Street, at around 10:30 p.m.
Inside the home, Eccentrich Richardson and her children scrambled to escape, but she said it wasn’t immediately apparent that her home had caught on fire.
“I had no clue there was a fire going on like this,” she said as she stood outside the charred remains of her home. “We were in there, and we were sleeping.”
Eccentrich said her neighbor alerted her about the fire.
“I just hear knocking, crazy knocking on the door,” she said. “‘Get out, the house is on fire.'”
The homeowner and her children were able to escape safely.
Eccentrich’s husband, Julius Richardson, was at church playing basketball at the time.
“I’m just thankful right now that everybody was safe,” he said.
7News cameras captured extensive damage inside the home. Every room was destroyed.
Eccentrich, a poet currently ranked 14th in the world in her craft, said the ordeal has given her potential future material for her poetry.
“Definitely a poem in here somewhere,” she said.
She paused, then added, “But not yet. I haven’t even processed or taken it all apart at the moment.”
The family has started a GoFundMe page to help them with the reconstruction of their home. If you would like to make a donation, click here.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.