EAST MOLINE, Ill. — An East Moline family said they narrowly escaped a blazing fire on Wednesday, June 28, at their home on 2318 7 1/2 St.
Hailey Mee and Benjamin Dusenberry lived on the second floor of the duplex home, along with two kids Harlow Mee, 2, and 3-week-old Harper Dusenberry.
"We had just finished cleaning up dinner," Hailey said. "The lights started flickering, they flicker twice and then we heard a big boom."
East Moline Fire and Police Departments responded to the fire at 8:54 p.m., with heavy fire coming from the garage, according to a press release.
"We saw the whole house just in flames," Hailey said. "We opened the front door, tried to get out through the front door. We couldn't - there was too much smoke and fire down there."
Hailey and Ben said they had to make a dramatic escape from the inferno, jumping from their second-floor balcony down to the patio on the first floor. The kids had to be carefully dropped down.
"Our daughter woke up from her nap today and said, 'I wanna go home' and we just... we can't go home 'cause we don't have a home," Hailey said while holding back tears and Ben comforting her.
The family was due to move out soon, but now most of their belongings are destroyed.
"The garage was packed full of our stuff ready to move - but yeah, it's all gone," Hailey said.
"My parents both passed when I was younger," Benjamin said. "All my memories from my parents are gone. A lot of stuff that's irreplaceable."
The couple also hopes others won't make the mistake of not having renter's insurance.
"We never thought this [would happen] to us til it happened and yeah, now we're left with nothing," Hailey said.
They are grateful that no one in their family was hurt or the others living on the first floor.
"We lost very important things to us, but we're alive and that's all that matters," Hailey said.
Luckily, as fire crews were investigating and cleaning up, they were able to retrieve some of the family documents in a small safe - including an orange Chicago Bears hat that belonged to Benjamin's father.
The fire still remains under investigation by the East Moline Fire Department.
A GoFundMe for the family is available here.
Check out more news, weather and sports coverage on News 8's YouTube channel