TOOELE, Utah — A Tooele woman is trying to recover memories and rebuild part of her home after a fire, but that's only part of the heartbreaking story as neighbors are trying to help in a great time of need.
Decades of memories, property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a home business were all destroyed in the devastating fire.
"I had a trailer and truck, a 4-wheeler, all my girl's baby items, their baby blankets, baby books my husband's dad's toolbox which has passed on," Angi Ellis detailed.
It was Thursday when Ellis got the news.
"My lovely neighbor called and told me my house and garage is on fire, and I just went hysterical," she said.
At the time of the fire, Angi was sitting in a Texas hospital with her daughter who is on life-support battling leukemia.
The fire meant Ellis was forced to leave her daughter's side to fly back to Tooele to see what could be salvaged. What was most heartbreaking was seeing her daughter's childhood keepsakes burned and lost.
"When you don't know if she's taken her last breath, that's like something for me to hold onto and it hurts very badly," said Ellis.
Friends and neighbors are not letting Ellis deal with the aftermath alone and they are trying help in any way they can.
"Everybody comes together like they're literally your family blood, it's amazing," Ellis said.
Left to rebuild her garage and recover irreplaceable memories, a GoFundMe page has been set up for Ellis as she and her family look to recover.
