The Ford family lost their home Thanksgiving morning.
Linda Ford said she was cooking in the kitchen when she heard a sound in the back of the house in her bedroom, ran back there and saw flames.
"I saw flames outside," she said, speculating that the origin of the fire was electrical as there was not a space heater there.
She called 911 and fire firefighters from Pea Ridge, Avoca, Northeast Benton County and Rogers responded. Linda and her two grandchildren, Courtney and Joshua, got out safely. Their pets, a Schipperke and a kitten, did not.
Mrs. Ford said she grabbed her handbag but was not able to save her medications.
The three bedroom house on Patton Road north of Arkansas Highway 72 was built in 1905, she said, and had been damaged by fire before.
"There was a fire here in 2001," she said, explaining that there was a flue fire but the house was not badly damaged. She had planned to host her family for Thanksgiving.
Benton County assistant fire marshal Eric Smith responded to the scene to investigate.
Mrs. Ford said she typically babysits two great-grandchildren, but thankfully the babies were at her daughter's, their grandmother's.
General News on 11/29/2017