NC family rebuilding after overcooked brownie catches fire, destroys home

ARCHDALE, N.C. (WGHP) — An Archdale family is rebuilding their home after a mishap in their kitchen became a costly mistake.

On Monday night, a woman threw away an overcooked brownie, unaware that it would later lead to a fire inside the family’s home.

“It was overwhelming. I mean, I was obviously crying and, seeing them made a little bit better and then the dogs in the car. But it’s just like seeing everything you kind of work for, and all these firemen inside the house. It’s… I don’t even know how to describe the emotions,” said Amber Hoefer Mowery.

Kyndell Zachary, Mowery’s daughter, reheated a brownie on a paper plate, and it became overcooked, and smoke began to fill the room.

She pulled the brownie and the plate out of the microwave, doused them in water from the sink, and threw them into the trash.

Minutes later, more smoke began to fill the room.

“I hear this beeping up. And so I walk in out of my door, and I turn the corner of the hallway, and all I see is just, like, orange glow and smoke, and I hear, like, a crackling sound,” said Zachary.

Mowery works as an English Teacher at Randleman High School, and with school on summer break, she works at her local Food Lion.

Mowery was at work when all of this was happening, and when Zachary told her the news over the phone, her heart sank.

“The first time I didn’t answer, but then they called again, and then they called the store to. So I answered it and all I heard was crying and screaming and our house is on fire. So I was in the office. I literally just ran… and as soon as I get here, all I see is fire trucks. I think it’s about 12 fire trucks, EMS. I mean, our street is just lit up in red,” said Mowery.

Zachery, her little brother Kiptyn and their four dogs were inside when the fire broke out.

“It definitely didn’t feel real. So I heard it. And now all I could think about was her and my dogs, and I knew that I had to get them out,” said Kiptyn Mowery.

Everyone was able to make it out of the house unharmed.

Fire crews got to the house in a matter of minutes after Zachary called, containing the flames to the kitchen.

When the family was able to go back in the home, they found more even more damage.

“The soot is so strong. And I guess I don’t know if it’s the water or the soot or the mixture of everything, but our walls have kind of come down. So all the walls have to be replaced,” said Mowery.

As they work to make repairs, they are getting some help from their neighbors and friends. They offered the family clothes, places to stay and even created a GoFundMe page to help them through this difficult time.

“A ton of people. People that haven’t even spoke to in years are sharing a GoFundMe that people that our family friends have made with us, for us,” said Zachary. “But it’s just amazing to see, like, the community all come together for us. And it’s a very heartwarming experience in a time of, like, such a traumatic experience that we had.”

Mowery says it will take four to eight months before the family is able to move back into the home.