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Candles left burning caused an overnight fire. It was not an act of carelessness on the part of the homeowner, but one of necessity. Carlette Bentley was laid off, and unable to keep up with bills. She spent the summer without electricity.
Bentley surveyed the damage to her Sherwood Avenue house.
"I don't even want to think about it," she said.
Water and fire damage are the latest setback for Bentley. After 15 years, she was laid off at Eastman Kodak. While retraining for a new career, she was unable to pay her RG&E bill and her power was shut off. Her house needed repairs before she could turn the power back on.
"I found out that's like $2,000 to get it fixed. I didn't have the money," she said.
By day, Bentley's been working at her new job as a medical assistant at Strong Memorial Hospital, trying to save up the money. She had been out of work for two years.
She gets through the night by using candles. She has no refrigerator, stove, or fan just candles.
Flames from the candles spread to the mattress in her son's room. Now she will have to use the electricity money to clean up from the fire. The fire proved to be a major setback to this woman who is trying to get ahead.
"I thought I was prepared. I was going to go to school. I went to access every program in Rochester. Everywhere there's stipulations you have to have this, you have to have that," Bentley said. "It's frustrating, very frustrating."
13WHAM News contacted the Red Cross, which was unaware of the fire. The agency provided Bentley's family emergency shelter, food, and clothing, but it's only a temporary solution.
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