Vermont

‘We All Made it Out :' Vt. Family Escapes Fire

Homeowner Tonya Counter said she is grateful for support from neighbors in and around Leicester after an early-morning fire destroyed her home

NBCUniversal, Inc.

A family in Vermont’s Addison County is starting out 2020 grateful for their lives after a fire tore through their home in the early hours of Thursday morning.

“I’m thankful that my kids are out,” Tonya Counter told NECN roughly ten hours after fleeing her burning home.

Counter and her family lost most of what they owned when their home on Route 7 in Leicester became a roaring fireball just after 2 a.m.

However, Counter is focusing only on what she still has.

“My kids, my husband, my extended family—we all made it out, when, in all reality, probably nobody should’ve made it out,” Counter said, referring to the extent of damage the fast-moving flames left. “But we did.”

Counter said teenagers had to bust out a bedroom window to escape with a dog because the flames left them no other way out.

There were no serious injuries, according to Counter and the Brandon Fire Department.

“I’m so glad the girls smashed the window and got out,” said neighbor and close friend Steve Moulton, who is taking care of some of the family pets that were saved.

Moulton did say a few kittens died.

The neighbor told NECN a 14-year-old inside the home smelled smoke and screamed to alert her sleeping loved ones to the emergency.

“If she didn’t wake up when she did, they’d all be dead—every one of them,” Moulton said of his friends, whom he called “wonderful, wonderful people.”

Firefighters have pinpointed the cause as a problem with a wood stove, said Deputy Chief Scott Trask of the Brandon Fire Department.

“It’s always sad when you have a fire like this because everyone loses everything, but this time of year, especially—Christmas and the holidays,” Trask said.

Counter said while she is in shock, it feels like her small town has given her and her family one big hug. Neighbors have already stopped by with donations of clothes, cash, and offers of places to stay, Counter said, and have been messaging her all day to show love and support.

“All our community—we are so blessed to have everybody,” Counter said.

Contact Us