BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga. — Lesia Grogg and her family lost their home of over 30 years to the Highway 82 wildfire in Brantley County.
“All of our hard work, everything, in a matter of minutes, it was gone,” Grogg said.
Grogg says she was down the road at work when she first heard about the fire.
“I came home and got my two dogs, loaded them up as the fireman was telling me you got to leave,” Grogg said.
When Grogg was leaving, she said she was mad because she forgot to lock the back door of her house.
“In my mind I was going to be back home that night and everything was going to be fine,” Grogg said.
However, that wasn’t the case. Grogg and her family came back to piles of rubble and ash. As well as a hole in their hearts that could never be replaced.
“Nothing can take the place of the memories we had. I mean nothing. Bringing our son home for the first time you know almost 30 years ago. First steps in the house,” Grogg said. “Little things like that, that mean so much.”
There was one thing Grogg really hoped to find. Her wedding band….and sure enough, digging through the rubble, her husband found it.
Now Grogg has one thing on her mind.
“I just want to come back home,” she said. “Maybe then I can find some peace.”
In Grogg’s case, she is fortunate because her father is giving her a new home, but that’s not the case for everyone displaced by this fire.
There are dozens of families in Brantley County still without a home. If you would like to donate, be sure to scan the QR code below:
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