Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- A southern Utah family of nine lost a home in a devastating fire.
- The fire was caused by smoldering grease in the kitchen trash can.
- Community support and a GoFundMe campaign are helping the family rebuild.
ENTERPRISE, Washington County — A southern Utah family of nine lost everything in a devastating house fire just weeks before Christmas, in the small town of Enterprise, about 40 miles north of St. George.
"It's heartbreaking our home is gone, memories of 10 years of family Christmases, Thanksgivings, birthdays, anniversaries. It's just gone in a matter of minutes. We lost everything," said Keya Tesch, who lives in the home with her fiancé, their six kids, and her mother. "It's going to be rough. It doesn't feel like Christmas."
The inside of Tesch's family home is completely torched. On the outside, you can see remnants of Christmas decorations.
It was the morning of Dec. 5 when the home suddenly went up in flames. Tesch said she had left to go to the store and noticed the smoke when she returned. Fortunately, everyone was out of the house. But she said it was so hot and moved so quickly that firefighters were not able to save anything inside.
"I just had to stand there and watch my house, just lose everything, go up in flames," she said.
Tesch said they were cooking with grease the night before and had wiped it up with a paper towel and thrown it in the trash can in the kitchen.
"Apparently the grease in the trash began to smolder and start a fire. And the next morning when the door was opened, and we had let in some fresh oxygen, it hit that fire and just took over. There was no stopping it," she said.
Amanda Baldonado, Tesch's best friend, has been doing everything she can to help the family get much-needed supplies through the community, friends and other family members.
"It's hard to see her lose everything," Baldonado said with emotion. "They just barely started decorating for Christmas but everything through the front door on back is gone."
Baldonado has also started a GoFundMe* account to help the family.
But Tesch said everyone survived and the family is together.
"As of now, we have each other. We have an amazing community who is rallying behind us like I said and we are just going to start over and rebuild," she said.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
