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Washtenaw County Deputy loses home and possessions in house fire

Posted at 10:32 PM, Jun 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-11 00:08:34-04

MONROE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Washtenaw County Sheriffs deputy and his family are left looking for answers after a fire destroyed their home and all their belongings early Sunday morning.

There is nothing left of the home on Edgewood in Monroe Township, nothing but rubble and now memories.

"They’re doing the best the can to try and stay strong, it’s just a very difficult time," Chris Pedersen long time friend of the Urban family said.

It’s a sight no homeowner ever wants to see.

"This is something you just can’t prepare for all of their possessions were in there," Pedersen said.

It was around 2 o’clock Sunday morning, when Natalie Urban smelled smoke. She went downstairs and saw flames.

"She went out she saw all the smoke and all the fire on the one side of here house completely engulfed," Pedersen said.

Natalie’s husband Sean was away in Tennessee on a motorcycle trip with different law enforcement group. After getting news of what happened, he boarded the first flight home.

"Everyone who was down there from 12 different states got together and did everything we could to help him out to get him home," Pedersen said.

Sean is an 11 year deputy with the Washtenaw County sheriffs office and K-9 handler. Everyone was able to make it out of the home safely except one of the couples dogs.

"They have each other. They’re just going to stay with each other and take it day by day," Pedersen said.

The couple has endured a lot over the last year, including the death of Natalie’s mother and the arrival of their first baby Harper, born 12 weeks early. The couple had to stay in the NICU for 3 months until Harper was well enough to go home.

"It was actually a year ago to the day they brought Harper home and the year to the date of the fire," Pedersen said.

This time the family needs help, no they’re not asking for it. It’s their friends and colleagues who are putting out a plea for the family.

"They’ve always helped everybody else out and out everyone before themselves and they been through so much the past two years, so this is our chance to try and give back to them," Pedersen said.

If you’d like to help the family, there is a GoFundMe page. So far people have donated thousand to help the family out.