Catoosa Family Loses Everything In Early Morning Fire

A Catoosa family is trying to put their life back together after a fire destroyed their home.

The Bauers were sleeping when the fire started early Wednesday morning.

Cynthia Bauer and her family have had a tough time of it over the past couple years. Her daughter has health issues. And Cynthia is fighting cancer and just finished a round of chemotherapy.

Now, everything they own has been destroyed by fire.

Cynthia said she can hardly believe what has happened to her home.

As fire tore the house apart, she and her 12-year-old daughter, Hannah, were sleeping in the same room and her husband was in the other side of the house.

She said the smell of smoke woke her up and she immediately went to get everyone outside.

"Horrifying, we felt like we were suffocating and the smell was—there's no words to describe the smell," Cynthia said.

1/16/2013 Related Story: Catoosa Home Destroyed By Fire

They all made it to safety with only Cynthia's husband suffering small burns on his hands.

"I was really hurting, because I had a lot of my baby stuff, all of my baby stuff was in my closet. My mom's wedding dress, I don't know if it's alright or not, but I always wanted to get married in her dress," Hannah said.

Firefighters had a tough time because a nearby fire hydrant had frozen over and they were forced to use a hydrant that was farther away.

"It was very scary," Hannah said.

The Bauers have lived here a little more than year. Their Christmas decorations are still up and a look around inside makes it hard to believe they made it out safely.

They didn't have renter's insurance and they're relying on family and friends to help replace their clothes.

"We got out of here with just our pajamas, no shoes, just what we had on while we were sleeping," Cynthia said.

Cynthia said she's thankful no one was no one was seriously hurt, but she's not sure what tomorrow will bring.

"We have no idea, we're just taking one hour at a time. That's all we can do," Cynthia said.

Catoosa Fire Department says the cause is still under investigation, but Cynthia said she's been told it was electrical.