Lake Station family loses everything in fire 2 days before Christmas
LAKE STATION, Ind. (WLS) -- A fire gutted a Lake Station home just two days before Christmas, destroying everything a mother of two young children owns.
"I just sat down in the yard. At that point you can't cry. You can't do anything. It's a blank emotion," said Samantha Roth, who was at a neighborhood park with her children, ages 5 and 7, when she saw smoke Saturday afternoon.
Roth, a nurse, headed in the direction of the fire to help, but then discovered that it was her home on fire. Her neighbor kicked down the door and saved their family dog.
The family lost all their belongings.
However, her community is working together to make sure the family has a happy holiday. They dropped off toys, clothing and cash to the Lake Station fire station to help make sure the family is taken care of for Christmas.
Dale Lambert, who dropped off a donation, saw a post on social media about the family and went straight to the ATM.
"I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old and if it would happen to me I would hope that the community would come together for us," Lambert said.
Roth's family had just moved into the trailer in June. This is not the first time she has lost everything.
"I went through a house fire three years ago with my mom and this is the second house fire that I have been in," Roth said.
And this time is difficult because it's so close to Christmas.
"When things happen, people really pull together and I truly believe this is a gift from God because nobody deserves this at Christmas. Nobody deserves this any time of the year but especially not at the holidays," Roth said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
"It is bad when you have the loss but when you have the community that is going to pull together and help them out to get through the holiday, that is a great thing," said Chief Chuck Fazekas, of the Lake Station Fire Department.
