Family working to recover after tragic fire in Detroit
Detroit family working to recover after devastating fire
Starkiesha Leonard's home was completely boarded up after a fire ripped through her house on Saturday. It was around 5 a.m. that morning and Starkiesha said her daughter, Serenity, sensed trouble. She woke everyone up saying there was a fire in the living room.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A family is rebuilding after a destructive fire nearly destroys their home in Detroit, taking a key member.
Starkiesha Leonard's home was completely boarded up after a fire ripped through her house on Saturday. It was around 5 a.m. that morning and Starkiesha said her daughter, Serenity, sensed trouble.
She woke everyone up saying there was a fire in the living room.
But before Serenity alerted her mom about the fire, she realized something was wrong because of Luke the family dog.
"She seen him crying and looking toward the fire and moving back," she said.
Starkiesha tried to put the fire out as she and the family worked to make it out alive. Her 19-year-old son Deonte had to jump onto the roof and off the balcony to safety.
Mom and her two kids are grateful to be alive, but now they have to start the new year starting over.
Starkiesha called both her daughter and Luke the dog heroes that morning.
A GoFundMe account has been created to help them get started. As the family tries to move forward, they hope others will learn from their tragedy.
Sadly, the family is overwhelmed with grief after losing Luke.
"I be trying not to get emotional," she said. "I lost my dog. So, that's really heartbreaking. I wasn't able to save him."
The cause of the fire is under investigation but Starkiesha believes the cause may have been a candle. She hopes all families take fire safety seriously.