WORDEN, Ill. — A family home built in 1972 burned to the ground in Worden, Illinois last week, but the Hammond family received a pleasant surprise after sorting through the ruins.
“We were minutes from getting out,” said Betty Hammond of the fire that destroyed her home and a Chevy Tahoe SUV parked in the driveway.
On September 26, Hammond said she and her husband Louis Hammond woke up around 5 a.m. to smoke and flames. Louis Hammond sprained his ankle during his escape, but the couple escaped. A dog and a cat did not survive.
“We lost Patsy and we lost Boo,” said Betty Hammond.
The house is a total loss including books and documents more than a century old.
“All the family history back to the civil war,” said Betty Hammond.
But there were a couple of pleasant surprises for the Hammonds. She’s pleased that she still had her wedding dress from her marriage to Louis four years ago, and the family drew strength from the survival of several bibles.
“Old bibles of my grandparents,” said Hammond. “God is good, God makes all things new.”
