LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A fire destroyed a family home and all their belongings in the Oldham County town of Westport Sunday afternoon.
Anna Westmoreland said she and seven other family members and friends, including children, lived in the home.
Westmoreland was at home when the fire broke out around 3 p.m. Sunday. She said she saw thick, black smoke starting to come by the door from the outside of the home.
"I grabbed my purse and went over to the sliding glass door, didn't grab any shoes, clothes, nothing," she said.
Westmoreland's husband uses an oxygen machine, so they and the other adults in the home got out as quickly as they could.
“It broke all the windows out of the house. We heard a big boom because there were two big oxygen tanks and an oxygen machine," she said.
The La Grange Fire Department said they responded to the call, alongside units from Ballardsville, North Oldham and Westport.
By the time they got the fire out, Westmoreland said it was a total loss.
Normally, there would have been even more people to rescue. Westmoreland said her three young grandchildren left for Louisville to watch the Pegasus Parade.
“They were upset, and I was glad they were gone because they didn’t see any flames when they came back," she said. “It’s like a nightmare, but something had told me let them go to the parade.”
The Red Cross helped them find a hotel to stay in, which Westmoreland said was a challenge because of bookings for the Kentucky Derby. Monday, one of her other top priorities was replacing prescriptions she and the family desperately need.
Some family members also returned to the home to find toys and other items that were outside and could be salvaged.
"If you didn't have family you wouldn't know what to do," Westmoreland said. "I do a lot, but I couldn't have done it all myself."
Now, the family will start looking for another place to live, ideally a house for their kids.
"I hate to take an apartment after they've had a house, because the kids like the yard, any kind of yard and any kind of house," Westmoreland said.
The La Grange Fire Department said the county arson team would be investigating the cause of the fire.
Westmoreland's granddaughter set up a gofundme to help support the family in replacing their belongings.
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