UPDATED: (09/30 7:15 p.m.)
A mom and her 16-year-old son narrowly escaped a fire at their home near Walcott, North Dakota.
Kristi Lelm and her son Lane were finishing up some chores Saturday afternoon and were about to take a break when they smelled smoke and found fire in their garage.
The fire started in the garage and moved to the rest of the house.
Instinct set in to save themselves and anything else they could grab.
Lane says, "The front door was glass, so I could see, you know like when you're cooking you can see something in the air. I saw that and smelled it."
Lane and Kristi opened up the inside garage door only to find smoke billowing in at them. They quickly shut it and realized that they had to get outside as quickly as possible.
But that was not all that was on Lane's mind after calling 911. "First instinct was try to get it out, but the hoses weren't powerful enough," says Lane.
He also tried to save at least one of the family's only two cars. He says, "As soon as I ran in the fire or the smoke to get the car, weather stripping came down, and it just glued on to my arm, and I ripped it off."
Unable save any cars, he and his mom were forced to sit back and watch as flames devoured the house. Nearly 15 minutes after the fire started, fire crews from six surrounding towns arrived, but by then it was too late.
All that remains is a skeleton of what was once their dream home. "I just try to take the things that mostly mean memories like pictures and trophies," says Lane.
Sifting through debris, he was able to take a moment to appreciate what he still had knowing friends and family will be there to hold them close through this time.
He says, "You can replace all these little things, all those can come back. But family...moms...you can't replace that."
The family says they will stay at a hotel in Fargo Sunday night so they can all be together after being split up Saturday night.
No cause of the fire has yet been determined.
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A family is without a home and one person was taken to the hospital after a fire near Walcott, North Dakota.
It happened at 5857 170th Avenue Southeast at about 12:30 p.m.
The Richland County Sheriff's Office says the fire started in the garage and spread.
The home is a total loss.
One person was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
The cause is still under investigation.
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