VESTABURG, Mich. — A Montcalm County family lost their 13-year-old girl in a house fire Wednesday. FOX 17 talked with that family for the first time on Friday.
The family identified the young girl as Stormie Mier. She was a seventh grader from Vestaburg Community Schools.
"She loved and had chickens. She loves to be on the farm and taking care of her animals," Stormie's aunt, Alicia Rose, told FOX 17. "They think Stormie stopped to get a dog."
Family members say Stormie's father and her brother tried to get her out of the flames.
"He (her father) had a towel. He broke through the window and my nephew had burns on his face. They both made attempts to try to go back in there, but the flames, it was just too much," Rose added.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
READ MORE: 13-year-old girl dies in Montcalm County house fire
"It was a complete loss by then. We had to stand around for like two hours, and well, the fire department put the fire out and knowing that Stormie was in there and we knew that she wasn't going to make it out," Rose said.
Stormie is survived by her six siblings and her two parents.
"I got a lot of memories, going trick-or-treating and having cookouts just, we're big family people. A lot, a lot of memories with her. Going to be hard being without her," Rose said.
Not only did this family lose their loved one, they also lost everything but the clothes on their backs.
"We got a long road ahead of us. It's gonna be hard to pick up and move on," she said.
Rose says the Vestaburg community is showing their love for this family in a big way.
"It's really helped us out a lot just how much community service that was offered and donations and everything and meals...I never would have thought that's what happened, but I would never have thought that the community would have reached out like they did either," she said.
If you want to help out this family financially, a GoFundMe page has been set up.
Rose wanted to let people know there is going to be a candle light vigil at Vestaburg Schools at 7 p.m. Saturday.
