TAMPA – A Tampa father says a fire that sparked in the middle of the night robbed his family of everything they owned.
“I lost everything, everything I owned was in this home,” said Brian Rhodes, walking through the charred frame of his house.
Rhodes and his five-year-old son weren’t home when the flames tore through.
“I got a call about 6 am,” he said.
By the time he arrived, flames were pouring from the windows and fire crews were working to put it out.
“You could just tell everything was like, gone.”
Room by room, memories erased
Pointing through the debris, Rhodes traced the outline of the life that was there just hours before. “The kitchen was all the way to the back,” he said. “Master bedroom was over there.”
On what used to be a hallway wall, he remembered, “I had my mom’s picture on the wall right here.”
“It was so big (firefighters) couldn’t tell me where it started,” Rhodes added.
A devastating loss: the family dog
As firefighters worked, Rhodes worried about the family’s dog, Ivey.
An 8-year-old pitbull.
“I’m like, man I hope my dog got out,” he said.
Later, he learned the flames took her life. “That was like his best friend,” he said of his son’s bond with the dog. “She protected him, she played with him.”
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Explaining the loss to a child
Rhodes says the hardest moments came as he tried to explain to his son what the fire left behind and what it didn’t. “your blankie you’ve had since you were 6months is gone. All of your shoes, your toys, your playstation” he told him, standing amid the ashes.
But one irreplaceable item is still missing.
“All he was worried about was Lala—, which is my mom,” Rhodes said, pointing to a spot inside the burned-out home. “My mom’s ashes were here,” he said. “It really broke his heart.”
Rhodes still hasn’t found his mother’s remains. “It makes me want to cry, but I know I’ve got to be strong because I know my son is watching me,” he said.
What’s next:
Rhodes said his son turns six on Halloween, something to look forward to as they start over. “We are looking for a home now,” he said.
Even in the wreckage, Rhodes says the fire couldn’t take everything. “Once you lose everything, you realize what really matters — and it’s those two things — me and my son,” he said.
Support from friends, neighbors, and strangers has shown him they’re not alone. “At one point I thought I had nobody — and then all of this happened, and I feel like I really do have people around me.”
He said he’s been so touched by coworkers who have asked what size clothes he and his son wear and people who have donated to help them rebuild their lives.
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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13’s Genevieve Curtis.