BY ELENA MARSH || Staff Writer
The Seven Lakes West community is coming together to provide some much needed support after a fire destroyed the home Thursday of a young mother and her 4-year-old daughter.
The home, located at 125 Wren Tree Court in West End, was in flames at around 9:10 a.m. on Thursday and is estimated to have burned for about 45 minutes to an hour.
Seven Lakes Fire Rescue Chief David Alston said the fire is still under investigation. Departments from several other Moore County communities responded to assist in putting the fire out.
“It was a total loss,” said Alston in reference to the damage caused by the fire. A family dog is also believed to have died.
The owner of the home, Pamela Schaette, is a single mother to a 4-year-old daughter, neither of whom were home when the fire began. Moore County property records show she bought the 1,625-square-foot home in 2020.
Soon after the fire broke out, several neighbors within the gated community gathered by Schaette’s side and began formulating ways to help the family.
Local Realtor Shannon Stites, who lives in the community, began collecting donations at her office at 4281 N.C. 73 in West End. She is currently collecting gift cards, clothing, hygiene products and other necessities.
“It began as a text group amongst friends,” said Stites. “I had told my friends that they could drop stuff off at our office. Then somebody posted that on Facebook so now it’s just spreading.”
A GoFundMe page was started for Schaette by her neighbor Courtney Eiserman. The page reads: “My neighbor, Pam, lost her home and everything in it, including her sweet dog, in a very unfortunate house fire right in the middle of this holiday season. Please let us join together as a community to help replenish her losses and make this family feel the love I know we have to offer. She wears a size 0 and small, and her daughter wears a size 4T.”
As of Friday afternoon, the fundraiser had garnered more than $9,000. Follow this link to donate: https://gofund.me/acb7137d
Contact Elena Marsh at (910) 693-2484 or elena@thepilot.com
