WINONA, Ariz. - A Northern Arizona family devastated after losing everything to a fire in early April said they’re grateful to be alive and learned a valuable lesson.
Nap time for Nicole Davis and her newborn turned into a raging inferno on the afternoon of Sunday, April 8 when Davis woke up to her father yelling, “The house is on fire.”
Smoke invaded the hallways where Davis once took her first steps.
“I looked out the left to the window and you could just see big flames going over the house and you could feel the heat just kind of engulf you,” Davis said.
Dry winds and dry conditions fed the burning brush as the embers rained down on the mother and child—showing no mercy.
“The clothes he was wearing had burns in it and the back of my arm had burns,” Davis said.
The flames took with them a family cat and scorched Davis’s father, Tyrone Davis, on the face and hands, as he let one of their dogs loose.
Their home for nearly 30 years, just paid off, was reduced to piles of ash in minutes.
“Years of accumulation and working hard and it’s all gone,” Tyrone Davis said.
The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office arrested their neighbor. Investigators said Steve Carter started the 86-acre, Copley Road Fire when he lost control of a burn pile.
Nicole Davis’s mother, Julia B. Jones, regretted not having insurance.
“You don’t think this would happen to you and everybody should have home insurance,” Jones said.
Though rebuilding won’t be easy, the hurt wasn’t for the things lost—it was for the memories attached to them.
Jones teared up as she remembered an antique bedroom set gifted to her after the couple she cared for passed.
“That was a memory of them that they gave me that’s gone,” Jones cried.
Family jewelry, photos and videos were among the irreplaceable things the family wished they could have saved.
I mean it sucks to lose everything, but it’s a blessing to have your life,” Nicole Davis said.
Anyone interested in helping this family rebuild can click here to donate.