Aid for Amanda's Family in Aftermath of Fire

My name is Amanda. On May 30th, 2024 our house caught on fire. I was the only one home (I work from home) and was at the start of my work shift. I got off of a call and heard a popping noise from the front room area and went to check it out. As soon as I turned around I saw the thick black smoke. I knew I needed to get out of the house. It was getting hard to breath and it was extremely hot inside already. I made my way to the side door and tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. I used all the strength I had in me to get the door open. I called 911 and screamed for my cats but only one came. I tired to get back in to get them but the smoke was pouring out and the windows began to shatter. I broke some of the windows open in the hopes that more of my cats would make it out. I was coughing and it was hard to breath. The ambulance arrived and I was walked to it. My oxygen was low and blood pressure was high. I was placed on oxygen and being monitored. I waited for my husband to arrive and started to receive phone calls...none of which I wanted to take. I layed on the cott hoping that the cats would be okay. My husband Caleb arrived and sat with me in the ambulance...a firefighter came into the ambulance and told me the news I didn't want to hear...none of the other cats made it.

After everyone was gone, Caleb and I went into the house briefly but it didn't resemble the house I knew. I walked into the master bedroom to double check that the firefighter didn't miss an alive kitty...they didn't...instead I saw one of my fur babies laying by my chair, mostly covered in soot. I pray that they did not suffer...everyone kept telling me that the cats would get out but everyone lied to me. I will never forgive myself for not doing more for them...maybe if I would have noticed sooner...maybe if would have went back to the room and grabbed them...maybe if I would have broken the bedroom window sooner...

I kept screaming for them but they never came. I know that I am lucky to be alive...and I know that material items are replaceable but my fur babies will never be able to be replaced...and my guilt of not doing enough to save them will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Maybe this isn't the platform to tell my story. Maybe this isn't the platform to share my pain but I need to. It says to tell your story and so I am. My husband and daughter were not home during the fire and I am thankful that. Any money provided will be put towards buying clothes, books, bathroom items, kitchen items, food, and shoes. Everything was lost in this fire in a matter of minutes...minutes that felt like an eternity