Fire burns down a Collier County woman’s home, takes the life of her dog

A Collier County woman lost her home to a blazing fire on Sunday. Items, like photos, are replaceable, but her dog that died in the burning home is not.

Pages of books and rubbish are now all that lay on the ground where Di Sheehan lived for 10 years.

“It’s very overwhelming that now we’re going to be bringing a baby in and we have to now plan not only for the new baby,” Sheehan said, “but also for a new house.”

Di used to walk through a gate to access her home. Now, not much is left. The expecting mother and her boyfriend went out for dinner Sunday evening and received a call that nobody ever wants to hear.

“He called me just after seven and said, ‘call 911 the house is on fire,'” Sheehan said.

Still in the home was a 13-year-old dog named Brandy. Sheehan’s boyfriend went into the home, but could not find Brandy because the smoke was too thick. It was devastating to Sheehan when Brandy was given to her.

“All I could think was how it wasn’t fair and how long I’ve had her I loved her,” Sheehan said.

Fire investigators later said it started in the main bedroom and looked to be electrical. Now, the couple continues to clean up the mess and find whatever survived the flames.

“We were able to find some of my pictures of Brandy when she was a puppy,” Sheehan said. “They were water damaged, but we were able to dry them out and save those.”