Garland fire leaves mother homeless, several pets dead days after Christmas

As the year comes to a close, one family is ending 2024 on a heartbreaking note after a fire destroyed their Garland home, claimed the lives of their pets and left them homeless days after Christmas.

“The smoke was all through the ceiling, already thick, dark smoke,” said Sarah Hayfer inside her burned four-plex unit.

Hayfer and her sister Jessica spent part of New Year’s Eve searching through the rubble for anything that survived Saturday’s devastating fire.

“You can never imagine it would happen to you or anyone you know, and it happens so incredibly fast,” said Hayfer.

The single mom was sick in bed when it happened. Her 7-year-old daughter Olivia made the terrifying discovery in the kitchen downstairs. She was craving a Christmas cookie.

“There’s smoke! There’s smoke,” Hayfer recalled her daughter running to tell her.

Thanks to Olivia’s quick thinking, mom and daughter ran outside in their nightgowns as flames quickly devoured their home of seven years.

They alerted neighbors and called 911, according to Hayfer.

She said she tried running back inside to save her cats, but the smoke was overwhelming. She said neighbors brought them shoes and clothes to keep them warm as Garland firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames.

Tragically, their cats and several aquariums with fish and frogs were consumed by the blaze. None survived. 

Hayfer’s family started a GoFundMe to help cover whatever renters’ insurance won’t.

The single mom is most anxious about finding affordable housing.

Another immediate need is storage space for the few belongings they salvaged. She must also find a way to ease her child into their new reality.

“She keeps missing her stuffed animals. Those were her babies,” she said. “I don’t think she quite understands we’re not coming back home.”

Hayfer praised the quick actions of police and firefighters who retrieved two of Olivia’s Christmas gifts, including some cash and a photograph of her grandparents.

Hayfer said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. She believes it began in the kitchen between the stove and the refrigerator.

The new year, she hoped, will bring new and better beginnings.

"Things can only go up from here," she said. “Piece by piece, little by little, day by day.”

If you would like to help this family, click here.