RICHMOND, Va. — Viola Brown is one of those neighbors in Church Hill who will always greet you with a smile and a wave from her East Marshall Street porch.
“They're just the sweetest people. I always see her on her porch just smiling. She never has a frown or a scowl on — always willing to talk to anyone. She’s just a bright light,” Katie Wenzel recalled.
Wenzel and her neighbors are hoping Viola’s light will return to their East End neighborhood after a devastating fire put the 81-year-old in the hospital at VCU Medical Center for nine days.
“I was sleeping and woke up to screaming and thought something was wrong. I ran downstairs and outside and then saw her house on fire — and it was very disorienting and scary and just overwhelming. I knew that people were likely inside because they’re always home,” Wenzel said.
The flames tore through her home in the early morning hours of March 5. Viola’s husband and son were able to escape the flames, but the family said the matriarch froze, and firefighters were forced to rescue her from the burning home.
Her daughter, Dr. Pamela Wooldridge, recalled seeing her mother’s home of more than four decades on fire.
“I just started crying. I just thought about all that my mom had put into it,” Wooldridge said.
Viola suffered intense smoke inhalation and was on a ventilator for days.
Doctors discharged her on Friday.
While the family does have home insurance, they believe the construction will still cost a lot of money they don’t have right now.
“The cost to replace this thing is going to be astronomical because it's a historic home and this is not fabricated. It's real wood, and in this market and in this time, it's going to take a new roof, new five bedrooms in here that got to be redone,” Wooldridge said.
Wenzel is hoping to raise at least $11,000 through GoFundMe for Viola, her husband, Jerry, and her son, Mane (Clifford).
“She now faces the unimaginable task of starting over with nothing but the nightgown she wore to bed,” the fundraiser website said. “Viola has been a beloved part of this community, always offering kindness and a warm smile to neighbors from her front porch. Now, we have the chance to show her the same love she has given so many. Please consider donating to help Viola and her family rebuild. Every contribution makes a difference.”
Other neighbors have donated blankets, clothing, food, and more.
Wooldridge said she is adamant they will rebuild and not sell to a contractor.
“The goal is for my mom to be back on her porch, waving at her neighbors, living in her own home. My mama was independent. She lived here, shopped, cooked. She was independent, had her own routine. My goal is to rebuild her home and put her back in it,” she stated.
The family said while the fire is still under investigation, they believe the flames may have started from an electrical problem outside.
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