Big Rapids Family Loses Home to Fire

A woman and her three sons homeless for a second time tonight.

This time, a fire is to blame.

No one was hurt in the fire, but the people living there say a dog, 3 cats and a kitten did not make it out.

Firefighters believe the fire started somewhere near the back of the home.

That was around ten this morning at the home on Rose Avenue in Big Rapids.

Sonia Cosby was at a friend’s house this morning when she found out her house was on fire. When she got there flames and smoke were pouring from her home.

“It’s pretty devastating, the first thing I was thinking of was my children, what we’re going to do, and they’re young. I was just thinking how devastated they were going to be. All I could think about was that and then where are we going to live was my second thought,” said Cosby.  

Sonia and her three sons had lived in the house for about three years.

Before that, they spent time homeless.

“We had a really rough time and we finally got ourselves together and we got a place and got our lives together. We were doing really well there for a few years and we were really happy and now this has happened,” said Cosby.  

For crews battling the fire, the metal roof made the fight extra challenging.  

“We take into consideration life and safety first so when we pull up and see a fully involved structure like this with a metal roof we’re looking at penetration, getting suppression efforts into the roof, so we can knock down the fire and cool down the area,” said Bryan Marek, Lead Shift Firefighter.

Now Sonia and her family are focused on moving forward, knowing they’ve conquered this challenge before.

“I know everything will eventually be okay, it’s going to stink for a little bit right now and that’s alright too, gotta deal with it and know that eventually it will be alright,” said Cosby.  

The American Red Cross is helping the family.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.