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Fort Lupton Family Loses Everything, Including 8 Pets To House Fire

FORT LUPTON, Colo. (CBS4) - A mother had to jump to safety from a second floor window and her husband had to be rescued by firefighters after their Fort Lupton home caught fire early Sunday morning.

The house on Village Drive is a total loss and nearly all the family's pets died.

"Ten years of our lives are gone," Jean-Michele Mead said.

In a matter of minutes Mead said his family's lives changed.

"Pictures of the kid's birth -- gone -- Xboxes -- gone -- computers -- gone."

And memories along with eight family pets, including two golden retrievers and six cats.

"The fire chief found the body of my son's cat which was the male."

The fire started early Sunday morning.

"I heard my son yell 'fire,' and so my wife and I jumped up."

FORT LUPTON HOUSE MAP
(credit: CBS)

In the chaos of the fire the family got separated. Mead's wife jumped from the second story window to escape the flames, injuring her hip.

"We had three minutes there before we would have been dead from asphyxiation."

Mead and his son found themselves on the second story balcony. His son was able to climb down, but he was trapped.

"I'm stuck on the balcony because now flames had gone up on that side of the house," he said. "I couldn't breathe and I was worried about getting stuck if I went underneath."

Firefighters were able to get him a ladder down to safety. Now the realization of what happened is starting to sink in.

"You sit on your couch to watch the Bronco's game -- it's ashes. You go to lay down in your bed at night, put your head on your pillow with your dog laying there next to you. My bed is gone, my dog is gone, pillows gone, everything is gone."

For now the family is staying in a hotel until they can figure out what their next step will be.

The family has set up a fund for donations. Visit youcaring.com for more information.

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