BISMARCK, ND (KXNET)–A family in Bismarck is trying to rebuild their lives after they lost nearly everything in a fire over the weekend.
Now, Aja Baker’s family has set up a Gofundme page to help out her and her daughter.
“She called me Sunday crying, ‘Mom, my house is on fire!’ I thought it was just a little stove fire, whatever,” Aja’s mother Sandy said.
But Sandra Gayton’s worst fears came true as she drove toward her daughter’s house on Sunday.
“By the time I got here, it was ugly,” Sandra said.
A fire started in the kitchen of the mobile home in Bismarck on Sunday afternoon. It quickly spread to the home’s rafters.
“It’s hard to process. You often question why,” Aja said.
Aja says she and her daughter were taking a nap on Sunday afternoon when the fire started. She says one of their dogs was trying to get their attention. When they both woke up, she says she could smell burning plastic coming from the kitchen.
“My baby ran out of the house with no shoes on. We literally just had ourselves, our pets and our phones. That was it,” Aja said.
“I’m just glad they’re safe. We can start over, I guess,” Sandra said.
A few boarded up windows, several tears and loads of laundry later, Aja and her daughter are trying to return to some form of routine.
“We were digging through six inches of rubble in her home. And she’d find a candle or a picture. And she’d be so happy. I got this, I got this!” Sandra said.
The family now has a GoFundMe page to help both Aja and her daughter. Aja says she’s grateful and overwhelmed by the kindness.
“It’s amazing. I shouldn’t be surprised, because North Dakota nice is something we’re used to,” Aja said.
Still, Aja admits she and her daughter have trouble sleeping after such a traumatic day.
“The fear of something happening again, because you don’t want that to happen to anyone else,” Aja said.
Aja says in the meantime, they’re living in a nearby mobile home.
They saved their two dogs and a cat, but sadly, Aja says veterinarians couldn’t save her cat Eggroll, who they’d had for 14 years.
