'Everything is gone;' Clearwater woman's home of 30+ years destroyed by fire

Fire destroys woman's home in Clearwater

A woman is expressing her gratitude for her life after a fire in Clearwater severely damaged her home of over 30 years.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - One woman in Clearwater says she’s lucky to be alive after a fire destroyed her home early Sunday morning.

Clearwater Fire & Rescue said crews responded to the 600 block of Bryant Street around 5:30 a.m.

Ellen Brown said she lived in the home for 35 years.

"All the memories baby … everybody … my children, baby pictures, birth certificates," Brown said. "There are just so many memories. There are just so many memories, and as my kids grew up, I got a wall that I mark them [their heights] and the wall is gone. Everything is gone."

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Brown said she woke up to go to the bathroom early Sunday morning and smelled smoke.

"I went around the house checking the plugs and checking everything in the house to find where the smoke was coming from, and I didn't find nothing," Brown said. "No plugs. Everything was ok, so I laid back down, and then I said ‘something ain’t right."

She got up again and went to the one place she hadn’t checked.

"When I checked the front porch, a lot of smoke just came in my face. So, I ran back through door and ran through the house and ran out the back door," Brown said. "I tried to dial 911, and I was just nervous and so scared and crying, and I said ‘help, help.’ I ran out the door saying, ‘help. Somebody help me.'"

Brown was the only one home at the time. She said she’s not sure what’s next, but feels lucky she escaped with her life.

"I just keep praying. God will tell me what to do next. He will. He woke me up. Nobody woke me up but Him. Even though I had to go to the bathroom, but that was God," Brown said. "Nobody didn't knock on my door. Nobody didn’t shake me and say, ‘wake up.’ It was God who woke me up to smell the smoke."