BUFFALO, N.Y. — Devastating and hurt are just two words to describe how Terry Potter and his family feel after losing everything.
Early Saturday, a three-alarm fire at a vacant home on Connecticut Street spread to their home.
Potter and his wife Lynda managed to get out alive. The family cat was missing.
The couple's granddaughters spoke with Two On Your Side's Claudine Ewing about the house they go to often for family gatherings and holiday events.
"They bought this house 20 years ago. They've been on the west side their whole lives and it was a beautiful home," said Kristin Italia.
She continued, “We've called, a lot of correspondence back and forth with it. This house has been vacant for what 2 years, I believe. we called all the surrounding businesses have reported it, it's been an ongoing problem."
The fire happened on her grandmother's birthday.
Potter said it is "tragic to comprehend," but he is glad he and his wife made it out alive.
"We're very fortunate to be alive. Now if the house next door was demolished, our house would not be like this at all, he said.
Jessica Italia said neighbors and her family made calls to city officials about the vacant home that went up in flames.
"This could have been stopped and prevented," she said. "We've contacted the city multiple times about taking this down, they all have and they never did and it was just ticking time bomb," her sister said.
The cat was missing, but a couple of days after the fire, with the help of fire members and others, a trap was set and the rescue cat named Blueberry was captured.
There is a special GoFundMe set up to assist the family.