MECOSTA COUNTY, Mich. — William and Lori Siegel of Mecosta County are now trying to figure out what comes next after losing almost everything they had in a fire at their home near Morley on Friday morning.
"There was a glow out the window that shouldn't have been there," William said. "I went around to the entrance door and the whole—there it is. My entrance door was on fire and the whole back wall and that's when I got [Lori] out and I woke her up."
As the house burned in just about half an hour, according to William, there wasn't time to grab more than what they needed.
Since then, they've been living with their children and seeking help from groups like the Red Cross.
They say it wasn't just their home that was lost in the fire, but decades of memories.
"You can't buy that stuff back, you can't," William said. "My son's commendation, my military history was in there, my son's military history, my dad's military history; it's just—it's gone."
Some who know them know them to be charitable to those less fortunate.
But now that they are the ones facing hardship, they're witnessing tragedy much closer to home.
"You don't think about it when you live in day-to-day," William said. "But when someone puts you up against a wall like this here, you spend a little more time thinking about such things. But by then, it's already too late."
While the memories cannot be replaced, a GoFundMe has been set up for the couple to help recover what they can.
Now, as they pick up the pieces and lean on each other to figure out what's next, they're telling others not to take what they have for granted.
"Put a little more effort and time into saving it because they can all go 10 minutes, 15 minutes, everything that you once knew can go," William said. "It can be gone."
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