Racine family lost almost everything in fire, and now the community is helping them get back on their feet

The Racine community is now trying to help a local family recover after a New Year's Eve fire devastated their home

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MILWAUKEE — It's a nightmare scenario that quickly became a reality for Savannah Lofquist. "I woke up and I couldn't breathe and I was hot," Lofquist told TMJ4. "I was really hot.

" As Savannah looked around her basement and outside her door, she saw flames. "I grabbed my daughter and I told my mom the house is on fire, we need to get out and I just ran out the house." A day after firefighters extinguished the flames, Savannah and her family consider themselves fortunate.



"I'm thankful I'm here, I'm alive, my daughter and my mom are well," Lofquist said. But now comes the next challenge for this Racine family, rebuilding. That's when the community stepped up.

A Facebook post from Growing Tree Child Development Center called for donations for the family. Savannah teaches at the center. "It's a devastating blow when you lose everything, especially a week after Christmas," said Stephanie Kober the director at Growing Tree.

"I know that the community of Racine is so gracious when it comes to these types of things." The center is asking for clothes for a baby between six and nine months old, medium-sized clothes for Savannah, and any other things that could help this family get back on their feet. Any donations can be dropped off at the center on Thursday and Friday between 6 am and 6 pm.

The family also has an Amazon registry with things the family might need to continue to recover. Lofquist says she's grateful for the support she's getting around Racine. "​I'm a single mom too and it's just me raising her," Lofquist said.

"So it's just everything's just kind of hard, but we're getting through it. Life happens and we move on and we have people helping us." It’s about time to watch on your time.

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