Eagle Mountain family displaced after fire destroyed two homes
May 8, 2024, 6:48 PM | Updated: 7:05 pm
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — A young Eagle Mountain family is grateful to be alive after they lost everything but each other Sunday. Looking through videos of the fire afterward, they were stunned they all made it.
“It was about 1:30 (a.m.) and Lindsey rolldover, got up and said ‘fire,'” Pete Rakozy said.
It was a scene straight from a script his wife, Lindsey Rakozy, never wanted to experience in real life.
“I just finished watching ‘This is Us’ and their house fire, right? And so just like one or two months ago, I was like, ‘What would we do if there is a house fire?'” she said.
A short time later, the house the couple brought their three babies home to was on fire.
Pete and Lindsey Rakozy, pictured with their three children. (Pete and Lindsey Rakozy)
“We didn’t know how bad the flames were when we were in there,” she said.
Her husband grabbed their 2-year-old twins, Nora and Xander.
“(Lindsey) just went straight for Scarlett, which was good, because outside of the house, that was the most ablaze,” Pete Rakozy said.
Once outside, the couple was stunned to see how much the flames had grown.
“It’d been about seven to ten minutes of the fire burning with the flames being fed by the crazy Eagle Mountain wind,” he said.
Their next-door neighbor’s house had also caught on fire. Luckily, everyone nearby made it out safely while firefighters continued to battle the flames.
“I just wanted to see them and know they were out,” Lindsey Rakozy said.
Aerial footage from KSL’s Chopper 5 depicted the extent of the damage from hours of burning.
“We have the ultimate skylight,” Pete Rakozy joked.
The couple laughed about their situation, but they also mourned.
“Our wedding rings are in the house … my wedding dress was in the house so — yeah, just gone,” Lindsey Rakozy said. “(The kids) say, ‘I want to go home,’ and how do you tell a two-year-old you don’t have a home? That’s been the hardest part.”
The couple said they have a video showing sparks coming from their electrical box.
“One of the things they saw was that the power conduit that went into our electrical box on the outside looked like it had been pulled down an inch,” Pete Rakozy said.
The fire department is still investigating the cause. And as for the Rakozys, they plan to rebuild in the neighborhood they love.
“We have a really great village out here,” Lindsey Rakozy said. “Our community has been amazing.”
The family said there are two Venmo accounts where funds can be sent to help the family in their time of need.
*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the Venmo accounts will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
