KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Quita Currington and her seven children have called 2721 Cleveland Ave. home for the last year.
Within minutes Friday, that home was consumed in flames.
"Everything is destroyed," Currington said. "We have nothing. We have no shoes. Everything is gone."
Five of her seven kids were at school when the fire broke out before 11:30 this morning.
Currington, who is originally from Mississippi, was asleep at the time. Her friend, Alexis Coleman, woke her up.
"Next thing you know, I saw a whole bunch of fire coming from the back," Coleman said. "I started going in the room and waking her up."
It more than two dozen firefighters to get the blaze under the control. The intense heat melted some of the siding at a house next door.
"We saw fire coming rushing out the window on the side of the windows," Coleman said. "We started banging on the neighbor’s doors trying to get them out of their house."
One of Currington's sons told 41 Action News he and his brothers were burning trash in a barrel in the backyard.
"She knew I was doing it last night," Currington said. "This morning, I went into the backyard to check on the barrel and the barrel was still on fire, so I came back to the house."
Investigators are looking into whether this alone may have started this fire.
The Red Cross is helping the family of eight find a temporary place to stay.
"It's going to be kind of hard," Coleman said. "Her birth certificate, money, everything was in there for her."
KCFD said Friday's winds caused the fire to spread quickly, but wasn't a problem for firefighters.
