As Carrie Watts stood with her husband and children watching their house burn, she shared her anguish online.
“At my lowest point of my entire life,” she wrote on Facebook. “I have lost everything I have worked hard for my entire life. My chest is so tight.”
When the fire broke out inside their Rabun County home late Wednesday night, Watts, her husband, Cam, and their two children, Mason and Maleigha, escaped with just the clothes on their backs.
Firefighters responded to the blaze at 144 JB and Fred Lane in Clayton at 8:25 p.m. on November 17. When they arrived, the approximately 1,000 square foot single-family home had fire “showing from all sides,” says Rabun County Assistant Fire Chief Justin Upchurch. Firefighters kept the fire from spreading but were unable to save the home. It was a total loss.
“Please pray please pray,” Watts desperately pleaded, asking, “Where do we go from here?”
The immediate answer to that is to family. Loved ones took in the now homeless young family of four and gave them a place to stay overnight. Officials notified the Red Cross to assist them. Friends and strangers are helping out too.
Beyond shelter and food, the family’s most immediate needs are clothes, shoes, and personal hygiene supplies. They’re also accepting cash donations through Venmo @carrieann1987.
Friends have set up donation collection sites in Lakemont at 7247 Old Highway 441 South and 6524 Highway 441 South.
Watts says fire officials think the blaze may have started in their home’s wiring, but no official cause has been released.
“The cause of the fire is unknown at this time,” says Upchurch.
This is the third time in less than a week that fire has displaced an area family. Two families in Habersham were forced from their homes in fires in Mount Airy and Demorest.
This article has been updated with additional information from Rabun County Fire Services
