2 Otsego Families Lose Everything In Wind-Fueled Fire
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Two families are sorting through soot after fire burned their homes to the ground.
Wednesday's powerful winds and record heat fueled a fire through an Otsego development. Smoke filled the area as the fast-moving fire jumped from house to house.
Four homes burned to the ground, two of which were under construction. The others had families living inside – and they lost everything.
While insurance may help them get back some of their belongings, their two dogs couldn't be saved.
Burnt book pages and charred timbers are all that's left of the home Bryan and Jen Telfer built for their family just five months ago.
"I thought it was an April Fools' joke, so I hung up on him," Jen said. "And then I called him back and … he was crying and he said, 'No, I'm serious, our house is on fire.'"
Neighbors watched the wind-fueled flames catch from one home to the next.
"Parked my car and came up here to see if I could help, but by that time it was so hot you couldn't even get close," neighbor Jake Fischer said.
When we interviewed Jen, who's staying at a hotel with her family, she was wearing the only clothes she has left.
"It's hard to imagine that, you know, you can lose three and a half homes in 10 to 12 minutes," Jen said.
Neither the couple nor their four children were home, but their two dogs were in their kennel downstairs.
"Our dogs were our boys, so we lost them (cries), one of them wasn't even a year old yet," she said.
The family plans to rebuild on the lot to start a new chapter in life.
"They are just the most loving, supportive family," neighbor Chelsey Fischer said. "It's just so sad to see it gone."
Jen says her family's faith is helping them in this most difficult time.
"God -- when you don't have anything else -- that's really all you need," Jen said. "So we've got great family and awesome friends, and it'll pull us together as a family."
GoFundMe pages have been set up for the Telfer family and the Eckroth family, who also lost their home in the fire.
The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.