The Lufkin News has the tragic story of an elderly woman who died when her house burned to the ground early Monday morning.  That's tragic enough, but the reason her house burned is even more tragic, and it should be an object lesson for us all.

 

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Jessica Cooley of the Lufkin News reports that 65 year old Dora Ramos was a "hoarder".  Her house on Humason St. was stuffed to the brim with "stuff" she had gathered over many years.

Her neighbors say her junk was piled nearly to the ceiling in every room, and it took firefighters six hours of digging through piles of burned rubble to find Ramos's body.

The cause of the fire hasn't been determined yet, but whatever it was, tragedies like this don't have to happen.

Compulsive hoarding is a symptom of mental illness and it can be treated.  "Hoarders" need professional help, not criticism or ridicule.

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