SALT LAKE CITY — Just after midnight Thursday morning, Jacob Dalton smelled smoke.
“Everyone was asleep, and I was the only one awake," he said. "I was able to wake everyone up, and it happened so fast. It's just like a matter of an hour. The whole house was just up in flames.”
Dalton, his mom, two little brothers and an uncle have all been sleeping under the same roof for years.
“It's separated the whole family, like everyone's got to go their own ways," he said. "I said goodbye to my little brothers, and they're going on their own ways, and, you know, hopefully we get reunited somehow.”
Neighbors watched the blaze early Thursday morning, and within hours, word of the tragedy spread. Friends and strangers alike came out to lend a helping hand.
Travis Nielsen had never even met Dalton’s family before Thursday.
“Took the afternoon off, came over and helped them out and figured, you know, I can’t imagine if this was me in the holidays right now," he said. "So we just came over, and we'll be here all weekend.”
Dalton's family recently lost their home insurance because they couldn’t afford to replace the roof on their house, so they’re trying to raise $10,000 to rebuild, he said.
“We've been here for a very long time," he said. "We've been here for about two decades and, you know, we're well known around here. Any helping hand would help.”
You can donate to the family's GoFundMe here.
