A Cape Coral woman is trying to salvage what she can after a fire destroyed her mother’s home Monday night.
A family in northeast Cape Coral was jolted awake by a loud popping sound and the smell of smoke.
“All the neighbors said it sounded like bombs were going off,” said Nicole Corso. Her mother, Nanette Weeks, owns the home on Northeast 16th Place that was left in ruins.
Corso said she received a terrifying phone call from her mother, who told her she was trapped inside the burning house.
“Everybody was kind of in bed. It was just after 8:30 p.m., and they were watching movies,” Corso said. “Then the fire started on the front porch. They all tried to put it out at first.”
Neighbors across the street and next door ran over with hoses and called 911.
“My mom inhaled a lot of smoke,” Corso said. “They all did.”
Firefighters were able to get most of the family out safely, and Weeks was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
“Their dog was OK,” Corso said. “There was a cat — a neighbor’s cat — and when I pulled up, they were working on it. He didn’t make it.”
The aftermath is devastating. The home is now covered in a thick layer of ash. The family is sifting through what’s left, trying to save what they can before even thinking about rebuilding.
“She lives solely on Social Security,” Corso said. “My mom was in a really bad accident three years ago. She spent almost a year in the hospital, had to learn to walk again — and now this.”
Amid the destruction, one thing remained untouched: a display case filled with angel figurines — a small sign, Corso said, that guardian angels may still be watching over them.
The state fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.