It started like any other quiet night. Then, in moments, her world was gone.
In Mathias, West Virginia, 28-year-old Hunter Campbell and four little children — ages one to five — were trapped as flames tore through their home. Their mother, Candi Strawderman, escaped through a window, injured and screaming for the family she could not reach. Her only surviving daughter wasn’t home that night — a twist of fate that saved her life.
Firefighters fought desperately, but the inferno left nothing standing. The Fire Marshal said the cause remains unknown, though space heaters may have played a role. There were no smoke alarms found in the wreckage. “Please pray for our entire community,” wrote the local fire department. “Hold your babies tight. No one is promised tomorrow.”
Candi, a nursing assistant and devoted mom, now faces the unthinkable — planning funerals for her fiancé and children while recovering herself. A friend’s GoFundMe has already raised over $65,000 to help her rebuild a life from ashes.
Some tragedies don’t make sense. They only remind us how fragile life truly is — and how love, even through loss, never burns away. 🕯️
