GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Savannah Davison heard a strange clicking noise around 9:40 Wednesday night. minutes later, her family home on the 300 block of Spencer Street NE in Grand Rapids was engulfed in flames.
"Our fuses started flipping on and off repeatedly, then the power went out and there was flames," She said. "It just happened so fast."
A mother to four boys all younger than 13, Davison says she had a funny feeling unlike nothing she'd experienced before telling her to get out. She scooped up her 5-year-old, her husband grabbed the family dog, their cousin managed to get shoes for the rest of the kids and they scrambled out through the growing flames.
"As fast as it spread, firefighters couldn’t go inside, they were drilling through the roof trying to get water in," she said.
The 6 Davison's and a cousin lived in the home. The rest of the home was unoccupied for renovation. Lieutenant Bill Smith with the Grand Rapids Fire Department says the family is fortunate to have been awake to notice the flames start.
"Had they been asleep," Smith said, "We'd be talking in different terms." Davison says the first responders told her most cases like theirs end in disaster.
"If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck." Davison said. "Now we have no place to stay and nothing for our kids to open on Christmas day."
The family planned on hosting for the holiday, now they will be spending Christmas at Grandma's, and they are temporarily living in a hotel.
A GoFundMe campaign has been created for the family, which can be found by clicking here.
"Items are replaceable, kids aren’t," Davison said. "People aren’t, and they’re all alive, so it is what it is."
GRFD believes the fire was electrical, but the cause is still under investigation. No people were injured, though two lizards were lost in the fire. The smoke detectors in the home worked, but the family was first alerted by their security system when the smoke started.
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