Sanford family starting over after house fire

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    SANFORD, Michigan (WNEM) — A Sanford family was lucky to avert disaster last year as their home was spared by the dam failures, but their house is now destroyed after a fire ripped through.

Karrie Ludwig, her husband Randy, and their 15-year-old son Dylan lost everything to a house fire on March 22.

“It doesn’t feel real right now. Not at all,” Ludwig said.

She has lived in the house since she was just eight years old.

“I have spent 30 years in there. All of our memories are in there. I lost everything. My dad had passed 13 years ago, his ashes were in there,” Ludwig said.

She was starting the grill to cook dinner when an ember hit the deck.

“And probably 20 minutes. The whole house was burnt,” Ludwig said.

Luckily, everyone, including their pets, made it out unscathed.

“I feel blessed. Very blessed. It could have been worse, it went up so fast,” Ludwig said.

Her best friend of 30 years, Raichyl Martin, calls the house her second home. She remembers it from when they were just kids.

“Thanksgiving, holidays, I was there for it. It’s family. It’s hard to see everything she had,” Martin said.

Martin organized a fundraiser to help the Ludwig family start over. Ludwig said she’s beyond thankful for the support that the Sanford community has already shown.

“I want to thank Sanford for being there. It means so much to me and my husband. And my son, he says he’s so lucky to have Sanford as his family,” Ludwig said.

The Ludwig family is looking for temporary housing, while they put the pieces back together.

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