NC grandmother always protected her little girl. Then they both died in a fire.

When some of the chickens on her property died, Pattie Harbinson rushed to the flea market to buy more. She didn’t want her 5-year-old great-granddaughter to notice.

The pair bonded over their love of caring for Harbinson’s animals. Kateria Little, or TeeTee, as the family nicknamed her, called almost every day to check on them. And after the chickens died, Harbinson couldn’t bring herself to tell TeeTee.

“Pattie went back to the flea market and bought 20 more of them,” said Emmy Huch, Harbinson’s younger sister. TeeTee “never knew the difference between the chickens that died and the ones that she had bought.”

Harbinson would do anything to protect TeeTee, or “little farmer,” as she’d sometimes call her and her other grandkids. She didn’t want them to feel pain.

But on Wednesday, April 17, Harbinson and the girl she loved died in an early-morning fire in Harbinson’s Lincoln County home along with Joseph Phelps, a man living there with his son.

Phelps’s 19-year-old son, Hakeem Stansford, was the only person to escape.

Fire at Harbinson’s home

Volunteer firefighters responded to the fire on Cloudburst Circle just outside Lincolnton a little before 3 a.m. and attempted to save those inside.

A firefighter from the North 321 Volunteer Fire Department had minor injuries from a structural collapse while trying to rescue them, said Vanessa Leon, the county spokesperson.

Stansford, the teenager who survived, now lives in Atlanta with an aunt.

Several neighboring volunteer fire departments arrived to help, and firefighters were able to control the fire within 20 minutes.

The charred remains of the home sit almost directly in the middle of the small, quiet neighborhood about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte. The fire did not damage any surrounding properties but melted the headlights on a couple vehicles parked near the house.

The day after the fire, the Lincoln County Fire Marshal’s office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said they determined that the fire was accidental and caused by improperly discarded smoking materials.

Almost a week later, on a sunny afternoon, the neighborhood was quiet except for some chickens clucking at the back of Harbinson’s property.

Great loss for loved ones

Sitting in the shade of her front porch just down the road, Huch and her sister Virginia Littlejohn spoke about Harbinson, their older sister, and what she meant to people.

“She helped everybody in need,” Littlejohn said. “She was the food bank, the taxi cab, the babysitter, landlord — everything.”

Huch said Harbinson was generous with her time and energy as well as her home, taking in any person who needed a place to stay, or any stray animal that crossed her path.

That’s how Phelps and Stansford found themselves in Harbinson’s home, Littlejohn said. They needed a place to live, so Harbinson took them in.

“Even though she may not have had enough room, she’d pack them in somewhere,” Huch said.

Great loss for community

Harbinson sheltered people and animals and made her yard a playground for her grandchildren and kids in the neighborhood.

A swingset and plastic playhouse stand at the site of the fire, along with toys and children’s books on the ground, and a melted trampoline.

Jennifer Maxey, a neighbor who was close with Harbinson, said it’s difficult to look over at the home where her kids would sometimes run around and play with “Aunt Pattie’s” grandkids.

“It’s gonna be different,” Maxey said. “It’s hard to sleep.”

Maxey spoke of Harbinson’s kindness she extended to her neighbors.

“She was the type of person who, if you needed something, she’d find it and bring it to you,” Maxey said. Pattie “was a loving woman who would always put out a helping hand.

“She will be truly missed.”

Maxey and her husband were home the night of the fire. Her husband was awake in the living room when he heard Stansford calling out to the family. He clicked his Ring camera facing the home and saw the flames. They called 911.

Many of the pets in Harbinson’s home also died in the fire. One that needed a home afterwards was a kitten named Tiger, Maxey said. She takes care of him now, providing food and water, and hugs when they each need some comfort.

To help the family, Maxey created an Amazon Wish List so people can buy items for them.

She and her husband also wanted to do something for Stansford after the fire. They decided to take him fishing. It’s something he enjoys, she said, and it seemed to help him.

Coping with pain

While Pattie Harbinson’s sisters grappled with their grief, they also expressed concern about the firefighter who was injured trying to save their loved ones.

Huch wondered how they could help, and Littlejohn suggested they find a way to meet.

“He could have died also,” Huch said. “They could have lost their family member trying to save mine.”

A few days after the fire, Littlejohn stood outside the charred remains wishing the circumstances weren’t their reality — that somehow Harbinson had evaded the deadly fire and would walk out of the woods nearby and tell everyone she was fine.

“I’m still in disbelief,” Littlejohn said. “When you lose a sibling, it’s different. It’s different because part of you is gone and you never get it back.”