NEWNAN, Ga. — It was a midday fire no one saw coming.
Neighbors described seeing the flames towering over the house and smoke billowing down the Newnan, Georgia, street.
The residents weren't home at the time, but neighbors could hear the agonizing sound of their six pets who were trapped inside.
Sonia King said her daughter Haley Luna, her son John Luna, and Haley’s finace Robert Ferguson, who all lived in the home, were at work when the fire started.
They had two dogs – Cedar and Comet - three cats – Tiger, Lucifer and Nicodemus - and one snake, Onix.
Haley “had just rescued Comet from a really abusive situation,” Sonia said. Haley had also rescued the three kittens when they were about a week old.
“The mom had left them in a trash pile and Haley bottle fed them,” Sonia said.
The family tried to save them when they heard the news of the fire.
“We got here as quick as we could, but it was too late,” Sonia, who didn’t live at the home, said.
Terry Turner was driving by and saw the flames.
He said he could hear dogs barking, so he kicked in the door. But because of the smoke and flames, he couldn't see where to go and after minutes of barking, he could only hear the crackling sound of the fire.
“It’s a moment that I really don’t want to go through again, because the last thing I heard was the dogs,” he said. “That’s a weird feeling knowing you can get to them.”
Turner, a neighbor who knows Haley, said “those were her kids in the house.”
Batallion chief Jay Lunstead said when firefighters arrived, about 40 percent of the property was gone. Melted siding and charred grass show how close the flames got to the homes on either side.
Firefighters still made efforts to save the pets, but it was too late.
“We pulled them out unfortunately, they were deceased,” Lunstead said.
Sonia said amidst the heartbreak, her children felt “blessed” for the sacrifices people tried to make for their animals.
“We’re blessed that people were trying, we were blessed that people were trying,” she said.
The family said they were able to bury the animals on a relative’s property.
“She just can’t understand why it happened,” Sonia said of her daughter. “She loved them.”
As the family mourns the lives of their pets, they are working to find a place to live and start the rebuilding process.
A GoFundMe is up and available for those looking to help.
"I lost everything. My pets were my kids and they tragically lost their lives in a house fire," Haley wrote on the GoFundMe page. "I’ve done everything that is expected of me. I work I pay bills and in one instance it was over. I don’t know where or how to begin again."
Pets lost in Newnan fire
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