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HOUSE FIRE
Family Left With Nothing After Fire Destroys Home

Reported by: Send eMail Kallie Cart
Videographer: Jeremy Bias, Brad Rice
Web Producer: Kallie Cart
Reported: Jan. 8, 2012 8:44 PM EST
Updated: Jan. 9, 2012 6:43 PM EST

EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO
C L I C K   T O   P L A Y
Dunbar , Kanawha County , West Virginia

A family has been left with nothing after fire ripped through their home Sunday night.

They made it out with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, but they say the important thing is all 9 people inside the home at the time of the fire, made it out.

"I ran into the hallway and into our back bedroom and it was already so engulfed in smoke, I'm surprised, I'm surprised our middle son made it," James Bowe says.

James Bowe says he is counting his blessings because his son, who is just three-years-old and disabled, made it out of the house safely. Bowe says his brother-in-law had just got done watching the Steelers football game, went to the back of the house, where the little boy was sleeping and saw the flames.

"I said grab him and get him out of the house then we tried to fight the fire but it was so smoky we almost didn't make it out, we had to get on the floor and crawl," Bowe says.

The fire started in the family's attached garage in the 400 block of 24th Street in Dunbar. Firefighters don't know how it started, but don't believe it is suspicious. Nine people were inside the house at the time, James, his wife, their three young kids and his sister-in- law, friends and her child. Everyone made it out of the house safely.

"It's God looking out for everyone who was there, it's a wake up call," Bowe says. "You don't know if you're going to have another day to be here, you don't know if you're going to have anything the next day, just be thankful for what you do have, your family."

And family is all they have left. They had just moved into the house in September. Bowe says they don't have insurance, and their van was destroyed along with their house.

"We're going to try and rebuild, try and get back on our feet. Hopefully things work out for the best, that's all we can do," Bowe says.

Their sons are ages five, three and one. The three-year-old wears braces on his feet and those were lost in the fire. The American Red Cross is helping the family, and you can reach out to the Red Cross if you would like to help. That number is (304) 340-3650.



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