A woman and her paraplegic husband lost their new trailer home in south-central Arizona less than 24 hours after moving in, according to a local NBC News affiliate.
Elizabeth and Brian Petrie moved into the new mobile home in Mesa on Nov. 10 and went out to get some supplies and return a U-Haul, only to find the house ablaze on their return, according to their GoFundMe campaign.
Video footage shared by 12News shows the home engulfed in a raging fire, with firefighters battling the conflagration.
The Mesa Fire and Medical Department (MFMD) responded to the emergency. “[O]ur crews … worked to quickly extinguish the fire and prevent its spread to adjacent homes.”
The MFMD initially contained the fire but later ran out of water, Elizabeth Petrie told 12News.
What remains of the home is a burnt-out, apparently unlivable shell, a video accompanying the MFMD’s statement shows. (RELATED: Video Shows Moment Officers Rescue Elderly Woman From Raging Flames)
Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. Meanwhile, the couple is staying in a hotel but have to keep paying rent for the ruined home until the lot is cleared, according to the fundraiser.
“I couldn’t believe that our home, in a matter of minutes, was gone, and everything in it,” a tearful Elizabeth Petrie told 12News. “I couldn’t even stand there anymore. I had to go around the corner and sit in the van because I was watching everything burn, our whole life.”
Charles Naumann, a friend of the couple, says he was still in the house when the fire started. He had helped the couple move into the home. He showed 12News around the ruins that remained and explained how the fire spread. He escaped with the couple’s dog — but not without burns to his arm, hand and face.
“Everything in the home is black. There’s soot everywhere. There’s nothing that’s not covered in soot,” Elizabeth Petrie added.
Not even the two motorcycles in the carport on the premises escaped the flames. One of the partially burned motorcycles had been customized for Brian Petrie because of his disability, according to the GoFundMe campaign. Some motorcyclists who are friends of the couple had “driven hours to come to help them” but it was doubtful that the motorcycles could be salvaged.
“It is set up for him to ride, which, as you can see, is not an option anymore,” Elizabeth Petrie told 12News.
The home was not yet insured, Elizabeth Petrie told 12News. The couple had been traveling to and from Nevada for two weeks before settling in Nov. 10 to prepare for a Thanksgiving gathering with other family members.
Now, the couple is looking to have a new start, albeit from nothing this time. “We lost it all,” Elizabeth Petrie told 12News.
At the time of writing, the fundraiser has garnered just $10,327 out of its $75,000 goal.
Some 10 firefighters narrowly escaped being fatally burned in a separate house fire near Arizona College and Benedictine University in Mesa back in August. The roof of the house had collapsed on them, 12News separately reported.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
