Hollygrove’s neighbors went to LaVerne Pinkney’s house on Saturday, one by one, to see how New Year’s Eve fireworks destroyed a truck in the garage, setting off a fire that seriously damaged the house. Most importantly, they came to help.
Pinkney, a 57-year-old widow who is recovering from spine surgery, cannot stay at home. Energy is off. The fire left holes in the side of the structure. Much of the attic is burned.
The annual New Year’s Eve fireworks display over the Mississippi River was canceled this year, but the sky was certainly not dark.
But she and her daughter, Whitney, went back to the family home on Gen. Ogden Street to sweep up some of the broken glass and debris that was left on the floor after the truck exploded in the windows near the driveway.
Before finishing the scan, the first visitor arrived. Some were friends. Some, including New Orleans City Council members Helena Moreno and Joe Giarrusso, were civil servants. Many were simply strangers with kind hearts.
“You need this more than me,” said Lucia Butler, who grew up near Edinburgh Street, as she and her sister, Ira Jackson Kelly, handed Pinkney the emergency money they were keeping in their bags. The women hugged her goodbye. “I’m going to go back and check on you, honey,” said Butler.
Lois Fisher, 71, also stopped, taking notes to see how she could follow up. “I’m just a neighbor in the neighborhood, trying to help,” said Fisher.
A few minutes later, Alex Henderson, 67, a member of the Hollygrove Neighbors Association, arrived and Charlie Mills, 82, a retired plumber who lives just a few blocks away. They introduced themselves and offered condolences, then examined the worst of the damage, the side of the house where the truck turned into a fireball on Thursday around 8:30 pm
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Thanks to a neighbor who saw the fire and knocked on the front door, everyone inside escaped safely, although Pinkney’s pregnant daughter-in-law, who was dozing, inhaled the smoke. Even so, Pinkney doesn’t know how she is going to rebuild, since she didn’t have property insurance.
The neighbors said they were determined to help her. “Much of it can be recovered,” said Mills, as he and Henderson examined an intact layer of wood that had survived beneath a melted layer of white vinyl siding.
Another voice came from the sidewalk, calling Mills. “Is it Mr. Charlie? I’m Brandon, son of Charles Collins, ”said Brandon Collins, 37, entering the yard to take a closer look at a set of power lines that were now charred together.
Mills smiled. “The electricians are here,” he said. He had known Collins’s uncle, father and cousin – all electricians – since before Collins was born.
Pinkney leaned against a side rail of her porch and listened to visitors in her backyard. Tears streamed down his face. “My neighbors came, and I am very grateful,” she said.
“This is the worst thing that can happen at the beginning of a new year,” said Giarrusso of the fire, while standing on the porch and emailing city departments. But the outpouring of support? He said it is similar to what he saw after Hurricane Katrina. “People are asking, ‘What can we do together to help?'”
Pinkney nodded, too moved to speak. As he looked to the right of the porch, he saw his agile 87-year-old neighbor, Doris Booth, who waved and blew a kiss at her.
Booth met Pinkney at the age of 4, when Pinkney’s parents, Lawrence and Violet Pinkney, moved into the modest white house. On Thursday, as the fire grew, Booth and a line of other neighbors stood outside with her while they waited for what they said was 10 or 15 minutes for 911 to answer their calls, fearing that the entire block would catch fire. .
On Saturday morning, Booth took the rug from Pinkney’s office to her house and spread it over a fence, where she rubbed and wiped the smell of smoke. “And her curtains are in my washing machine,” said Booth, as she sat on the front step to watch the parade of neighbors who headed to Pinkney’s house with hugs and offers of help.
“This is what we do,” Booth said. “Here in New Orleans, when problems arise, we help each other. This is what we do. “
Donations to help Pinkney can be made to this GoFundMe account.