LAKESIDE, Calif. (KGTV) - A fire pit has been determined to be the probable cause of a fire that gutted a Lakeside home in late May.
For Lisa Zouhar, looking at the remnants of her home along Shamrock Lane, fills her with anxiety.
“It's hard to look at. Even the smell, just hard to be around,” said Zouhar.
It wasn't a smell that woke up Zouhar early in the morning two Sundays ago.
“I was up here in bed. I sleep closest to the window,” said Zouhar.
She just happened to get up to go to the bathroom when she saw a light under her blacked-out curtains.
“I looked out and noticed fire. A sense of urgency kicked in,” said Zouhar. “I yelled at my husband and woke him up.”
Her husband grabbed a hose, to no avail.
“When he goes to grab it, it’s completely melted off,” said Zouhar.
Zouhar ran out with their two dogs, and called 9-1-1. Fire crews arrived in about five minutes.
“At that point, the bedroom window had already exploded … so a lot of the house was already on fire,” said Zouhar.
Despite a firefight, Zouhar says her home and nearly everything inside, was a total loss.
“It's everything. It’s my safe place … It’s what I look forward to, and it's gone,” said Zouhar.
The couple does has insurance, though Zouhar believes they're underinsured.
About 20 feet away from the bedroom window is a fire pit which they used the previous night.
"We had made sure everything was watered down,” said Zouhar.
Even with the embers doused, fire officials believe the fire pit was the probable source, somehow igniting a nearby patio cover.
Zouhar is just grateful her whole family made it out alive, thanks to a bathroom trip.
“If I hadn't woken up, it’s quite possible this would have ended up a little differently,” said Zouhar.
Lakeside Fire officials caution against having any sort of open fires amid heightened fire dangers.
A Gofundme campaign has been started to help the Zouhar family rebuild.
