BAKERSFIELD, CA - A Bakersfield family is starting over after losing everything in a house fire Wednesday.
The property owner says he doesn't think there were any smoke detectors in the home, but still rented it out to the family last month.
Smoke detectors are required in all homes under California law, but the property owner says he didn't know that. He says he never had the property inspected.
Now, the family who rented that home is just thankful they're all safe after what could have been a tragedy.
"We got a loud knock at the door and they said 'your house is on fire, the back of your house' and we're like no there's nobody back there what do you mean? And, we open the door and there was just flames."
And, those flames quickly tore through the home in the 3700 block of L Street in northeast Bakersfield Wednesday, destroying everything Randi Reddick, her boyfriend, and their three young children owned.
"I actually just packed up from the motel they gave me for two nights now. I actually don't know where we're going for the day," Reddick said.
"It's kind of weird because I don't know how it started and it's sad and I lost everything and I don't know what to do," said 12-year-old Arionna Salazar.
The property's owner, Bernard Bugarin, says the home still needed some minor renovations. But other hazards, like live wires hanging from the ceiling, were not immediately fixed.
"That's the way I bought the house. I thought it was part of the house connection because it is an older house. It's a hundred year old house so I have no idea if those wires were to code or not," Bugarin said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but both Bugarin and Reddick say it was electrical.
If you would like to help the family you can contact Andrae Gonzalez from Stewards Inc. at 565-4636.
Gonzalez says the biggest need right now is cash donations to help get this family into a new home.
The property owner says he doesn't think there were any smoke detectors in the home, but still rented it out to the family last month.
Smoke detectors are required in all homes under California law, but the property owner says he didn't know that. He says he never had the property inspected.
Now, the family who rented that home is just thankful they're all safe after what could have been a tragedy.
"We got a loud knock at the door and they said 'your house is on fire, the back of your house' and we're like no there's nobody back there what do you mean? And, we open the door and there was just flames."
And, those flames quickly tore through the home in the 3700 block of L Street in northeast Bakersfield Wednesday, destroying everything Randi Reddick, her boyfriend, and their three young children owned.
"I actually just packed up from the motel they gave me for two nights now. I actually don't know where we're going for the day," Reddick said.
"It's kind of weird because I don't know how it started and it's sad and I lost everything and I don't know what to do," said 12-year-old Arionna Salazar.
The property's owner, Bernard Bugarin, says the home still needed some minor renovations. But other hazards, like live wires hanging from the ceiling, were not immediately fixed.
"That's the way I bought the house. I thought it was part of the house connection because it is an older house. It's a hundred year old house so I have no idea if those wires were to code or not," Bugarin said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but both Bugarin and Reddick say it was electrical.
If you would like to help the family you can contact Andrae Gonzalez from Stewards Inc. at 565-4636.
Gonzalez says the biggest need right now is cash donations to help get this family into a new home.