JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A University of North Florida (UNF) student and her family are picking up the pieces after a fire destroyed their southside home.<\/p>\n
The fire happened earlier this week at the Shore House apartments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a lot for us right now,\u201d said UNF student KeAisa Scott.<\/p>\n
Scott came home from the grocery store on Monday to see her kitchen engulfed in flames.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n She said her sister was cooking on the stove and walked away for just seconds. When she returned, she was met with flames.<\/p>\n \u201cFire started behind the stove,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n Within minutes, everything they owned was gone.<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing all the hard work of my mom, she\u2019s a single parent, the clothes she paid for, the shoes, everything that\u2019s she\u2019s worked hard for engulfed in flames,\u201d said Scott. \u201cIt broke my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott said before firefighters arrived, her mom searched for a fire extinguisher, but none could be found, not in their unit or in any of their neighbors.<\/p>\n The family said earlier this year they were told by the apartment complex to place their extinguishers outside their doors to be replaced because they were outdated. But they say that they never got a new one.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we had that fire extinguisher in our apartment…we could have saved this fire,\u201d said Scott. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s heartbreaking to my mom and my family at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n Action News Jax Alexus Cleavenger went to the leasing office at Shore House to try and speak with the property manager.<\/p>\n They were not there at the time she stopped in, so she sent an email with questions about the fire extinguisher concerns, but Action News Jax did not hear back from them by the time this story aired.<\/p>\n While Scott said she is grateful everyone made it out alive, she hopes something can be done to ensure fire safety equipment is always on hand.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that nobody should have to go through,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n