North Carolina Family Loses Home While Trick Or Treating

It was a night for shocking sights, but Buffy Dover says on Halloween she saw a scary thing that no one should witness. "Nobody should have to stand and watch their house burn . . . nobody," she said. The single mother of two had taken her kids trick or treating Tuesday night in the Laural Woods subdivision near their Gastonia home. After they had collected a lot of candy, they came home and found out they had lost everything. "We saw our house from down the street," she said. "We lost all our clothes." The room 7-year-old Vannessa lived in was entirely destroyed. The Creekview Drive residence was more than a house; it was the only home the family had ever wanted. "We watched them build it, and loved that house," Dover said. "And we love our neighborhood and that's where we want to live." Wednesday morning news of the fire reached the children's classmates. School administrators scambled to help. "It's critical. It's hard enough for kids to learn when there's an obstacle, and this is an obstacle for the family," said Dwayne Burks of the Alliance For Children. Meanwhile, fire investigators are working to find out the cause of the blaze. This family though is happy that no one was home. Andrew Long, 11, didn't want to go trick or treating this year, but his mother talked him into it. "We got each other don't we," Long said. The family does have insurance but they are waiting to find out if it's enough to cover rebuilding. In the meantime they're staying with relatives.