NORTH FORT MYERS, FLA — Marian Hagan says the fact that she's still standing, is a miracle.
"I'm lucky I'm alive," she said.
She tells FOX 4 that's because she and a few roommates survived a massive generator fire in March of 2020.
"Seven and a half minutes it took it to fully engulf. And 15 minutes later it was fully demolished to the ground," she said.
And every day since has been a bit of a treasure hunt.
"I actually found my rubber ducky," she said.
Some of her finds have been seemingly insignificant. While others have been useful.
Everything that I've found, it's just amazing what something that you that was trivial is not because you found it through a fire," she said.
But she says none, have been more important than finding a picture of her son who died 10 years ago.
"That was like a beacon of light to me," she said.
Hagan adds that she's disabled, so it's been hard for her to find work. And claims that while there was some help, in the beginning, it quickly dried up, because of the pandemic.
"We called churches and no one could help us because all the charities were closed at the time," she said.
So since then, she's been sleeping right on the lot in her car, alongside her brother and his girlfriend, who didn't want to go on-camera.
And says she'll do it until the house is rebuilt or until better help comes along.
"My mother always said when you get lemons you make lemonade, but I don't lemonade, so I guess I made a lot of lemon meringue pies," she said.
She says she's not sure why this happened to her, but she is certain of one thing.
"And everybody should be aware of that. If you want to save your home, put sprinklers in," she said.
If you see this story and want to help Hagan, says what they need right now is some utensils and things to cook with on a grill.
She says you can bring the stuff right to their lot at 8229 McDaniel Drive in North Fort Myers, FL.
