SEARSPORT, Maine — A family lost everything Sunday night when fire swept through their mobile home.
Nickie Amaro, 29, said she was home with her fiance and children about 7 p.m. when the fire started. Everyone escaped safely, but the house was destroyed, she said.
“I had the kids all gathered together already getting ready to sit down to eat,” Amaro said during a phone interview Monday morning. “We were lucky. It didn’t take long for the place to fill up with smoke.”
The family had been using a heater to try to thaw out frozen pipes under the sink. Firefighters said that sparked the fire about 7 p.m.
“We lost everything,” Amaro said, noting that her and the children’s clothes and Christmas presents were destroyed in the blaze.
Amaro and her family stayed with relatives Sunday night and met Monday afternoon with the American Red Cross. The organization set the family up with a room at Fireside Inn and Suites for the next week, gave them a few changes of clothing and referred them to programs that could help them financially until they find more permanent arrangements. The mobile home was not insured.
Amaro’s sister is accepting donations for the family, including clothing, Christmas gifts for the children and other basics, at her home at 3 Waterville Road in Belfast, 04915.
Amaro has two girls, ages 11 and 10, and two boys, ages 8 and 4.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.