OGDEN, Utah — The day after a massive fire swept through an Ogden neighborhood, some residents are now facing the difficult task of rebuilding, if they can, after being left with nothing.
WATCH: Businesses clean-up after Ogden fire damages buildings
Five homes were destroyed in the fire that started at the site of an under-construction apartment complex at 28th Street and Grant Avenue, and quickly spread to nearby houses.
“My family home and there's nothing left of it," said Dana Gallegos. "All of my stuff was in there. It’s all gone. I have nothing no more.”
Gallegos said her family had lived in the home for almost 30 years. Now, after nearly three decades of struggling to get by, she and her family are left to pick up the pieces from a home left in ruins.
“We weren’t born rich or anything, we are just barely making it.” Gallegos said.
TOTAL LOSS: one of the homes burned in last nights massive fire in Ogden is being torn down. @fox13 pic.twitter.com/las3w2j83r
— Sydney Glenn (@SydneyGlennTV) June 29, 2021
The Gallegos family was still stunned Tuesday afternoon as they stood before the shell of a home that contained a lifetime of memories.
“I struggled trying to build a home for them and now it is all gone,” said Carolyn Gallegos, Dana's mother. “Unbearable. To see everything you worked for just go down the drain.
"I don’t wish it on anybody.”
What's worse is that Gallegos, who lost a son just months ago, had no insurance on the home, leaving her without the funds to rebuild.
Residents described the moments after the fire began engulfing everything in its path. One person told FOX 13 that someone was running up and down the street screaming, "Get out! Get out!"
In the video below, Ogden Fire Chief Mike Mathieu describes what made Monday's fire so difficult to fight
Hearing the warnings, some believed there was a shooting. It wasn't until they saw the flames that they realized their neighborhood was on fire and began to run.
“When the flames came up it was like being in hell. Everything was like the Devil just set the whole world on fire,” said Joseph Romero, who lives with the Gallegos family. "Smoke just covered up the whole block."
Despite the devastation and immediate uncertainty, Romero remains positive because it's all he and the Gallegos family has left.
“Family house is gone, and I guess we are just going to have to work on moving on with our lives,” said Romero. “It is going to be alright.”
