NEW BOSTON, Mich. (WXYZ) — A New Boston family is starting over after a devastating house fire destroyed their home early Saturday morning.
Katryna Scrivner, her daughter and her boyfriend were inside the home on Evans Street when flames broke out around 1:30 a.m.
"I went to flip over and I opened my eyes and in front of my entire bedroom window was just all I see is orange, big flames coming up," Scrivner recalled.
Within minutes, the fire consumed the home.
"The entire house was gone within 15 minutes," she said.
Everyone inside managed to escape safely, but the family lost all of their belongings. They also lost five beloved pets in the fire, including a rabbit, two snakes, a bearded dragon and a cat.
"They were our family," Scrivner said.
The family is now staying with relatives as they try to recover from the loss. Scrivner said she was renting the home and has renters insurance, but it will only cover a small portion of the expenses they now face.
To help, a close friend launched a GoFundMe fundraiser.
"My best friend Erin made me a GoFundMe to make sure my family was taken care of," Scrivner said. "She brought necessities up."
The fire comes at a particularly difficult time for the family. Scrivner's 14-year-old daughter is set to return to school in just two weeks.
"She's taking it the best that she can," Scrivner said. "I don't know if reality has necessarily set in yet for her, but she lost all of her stuff too."
Despite the loss, Scrivner said she is grateful her family survived.
"By the time we got out of the house, the whole front half of the house was gone already," she said. "They said that we were very lucky. Within moments we would be having a very different conversation."
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Scrivner believes it may have started beneath the porch and could have been related to an electrical issue, but officials have not confirmed a cause.
