MIDDLEBURG, Fla. – A Middleburg family lost their three pets Monday afternoon when their two-story home caught fire, according to Clay County Fire Rescue.
Firefighters responded to a 12:47 p.m. 911 call reporting the fire at 3790 Iceni Court. Several units and more than 17 firefighters got the fire under control by 1:09 p.m.
Elizabeth Bryan was home with two of her children, as well as her son’s friend when the fire broke out.
“I was on the back porch when I heard the smoke detectors go off, then I came inside and there was smoke billowing out. So I just knew we had to get out,” Bryan said. “We didn’t try to put it out.”
While the family made it out safely, the Bryan family’s three pets did not.
“I have two kittens and a cat that didn’t make it,” Bryan said. “They were in a room upstairs. The kittens were only, like, 7 weeks old, then the cat (was) 6 months old.”
Along with her husband, Robert, the Bryan family sat across the street from their home and waited for their remaining children to arrive home from school. When they did, the tears were flowing as the children hugged their parents.
“I think we’re all in shock,” Elizabeth Bryan said. “It’s all happening so fast – we lost everything.”
The damage to the Bryan family’s home is fairly bad throughout the house, and what wasn’t burned was likely damaged by smoke.
“It started in the main park area,” Robert Bryan said. “The rest of the house just filled with smoke.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal, but it is not considered suspicious.