PROVO, Utah — Charred wooden frames and boxes full of nearly burnt belongings lie outside Claire Hart's home. Based on the home's new interior, you'd never think this home was once up in flames, but Hart can still vividly remember what she saw last Thanksgiving morning.
"I came through the hall over here and when I got here, this is when I saw the fire burning through the ceiling right here in the roof. This door was opened to the coat closet, and all of that had burned through," Hart recalled.
Hart called 911 and she and her daughter were able to escape safely, but not before the fire caused a lot of damage to their Provo home.
"What we thought would be a large loss ended up being a total loss of everything we owned," Hart said.
Earlier this month, the suspect in the fire, a stranger named Calliope Mlynar, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated arson at an apartment complex and agreed to take financial responsibility for six fires, including Hart's.
"We're not expecting to see any financial restitution," Hart said. "There's an interesting juxtaposition of feeling like relieved the person is in prison behind bars, but still having to deal with the consequences of their actions for the foreseeable future."
Claire and her 5-year-old daughter have been without a permanent home since the fire. The two have made do by staying at Airbnb rentals and with friends and family.
"It's been difficult, but there have been a lot of really kind generous people helping us out," Hart remarked.
Almost a year later, her home is close to being rebuilt with some new additions she calls a "silverling," but she and her daughter are still emotionally impacted by what happened that November morning.
"My plan is to install the most robust security system I can find, and then there's just a lot of healing and addressing the fear that I live with now," Hart said.
Although she and her daughter are happy to be going back home, Hart says she's still struggling to feel safe and the two are still trying to recover financially.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the family. It can be found HERE.
