A Slidell woman’s home was destroyed in a fire this week just hours after her husband and best friend of 50 years died.
Dixie Walker, 77, was mourning the loss of her husband of 50 years, a Vietnam veteran, Charles Fritz Walker when there was a loud boom.
Walker’s son, Bubba, said his mother, who is unable to walk, and her caretaker heard the boom before the fire erupted.
“And so she opened it up and the fire just billowed in, it had already exploded that big. So she slammed the door shut,” Bubba said.
Neighbors quickly came to Walker’s rescue, banging on her door to get her out.
“He swept past her back to me. I have a sliding glass door. He grabbed me around my top and he said there’s no time for the chair and he pulled me outside,” Walker said.
“Thank God for neighbors and them getting her out of the house. Otherwise, I might have been burying two parents this weekend instead of just one,” said Bubba.
Charles Fritz Walker, a Vietnam veteran, was remembered by Bubba as someone who loved his red Corvette, which now sits charred in the family’s garage.
“That was kind of a sad thing because it’s something that he loved later in life that he got later in life,” Bubba said.
Slidell fire officials believe the fire started in the garage, where an explosion also totaled Walker’s wheelchair-accessible van.
“Everything is so black. I don’t think that there’s anything in there that I can save,” Bubba said.
Walker is currently staying with her son and will have to rebuild her life, starting with replacing her wheelchair-accessible van, clothes, and even a bed.
The family has started a fundraiser to help her recover.
READ MORE:Slidell woman loses husband, home in same day. More on her heartbreaking story
