CHANDLER, AZ — A woman and two pets were found dead after a garage fire in Chandler on Friday afternoon.
Fire and police detectives responded to the area just before 3 p.m. near Dobson and Warner roads.
A neighboring home was evacuated as a precaution, fire officials said.
Kaite Hoekstra and her two daughters, Maya and Marley, had lived in a neighborhood near Dobson and Warner for 12 years.
So had Kaite's mom Alice, the girls' grandmother. Last Friday, that all ended.
"My younger daughter Marley was across the street at our neighbors' house pet sitting, and she came out to come home to get ready to go to work, and she just saw our house fully engulfed in flames," Hoekstra said.
Alice and the family's pets died in the fire.
"She was just a die-hard sports fan, she loved her grandkids, I just can't believe this is how it ended," Hoekstra said. "I mean it's our home, you know, the memories of my kids being little and when my dad was still alive and all of those things, everything is just gone."
Chandler fire investigators say they do not suspect foul play, but the cause is under investigation.
Hoekstra says the home is likely a total loss.
"There is nothing in there that can be saved, I mean, there is nothing, there is nothing left," Hoekstra said. "We just want to go home, so we are wanting to rebuild, we are hoping to rebuild, we are doing everything we can to get there, it's just going to be a very, very long process."
While that process begins, Hoekstra says she's grateful for the neighbors and community she still has.
"Cherish what you have, you don't know when it is going to be gone, and you just never know, and when you have nothing, it's just remarkable how people show up for you," Hoekstra said.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family.
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