Firefighters extinguish a house fire on Highway 1 and 78 Tuesday afternoon, west of Brighton. Photo by KCII News.

Tuesday afternoon, when nobody was home, a fire destroyed a house near Lake Darling. Emergency crews responded to the fire on Highway 1 and 78 at about 1:30 p.m. and smoke could be seen coming from the roof. The family of seven, including five children between the ages of 2 and 10, who had recently moved into the brick home is now staying with family.

Ellen Amland, who is hosting the family at this time, tells KCII News the family lost everything she said “they only had the clothes on their back.” She’s currently collecting items, especially clothes and toiletries. The Red Cross is also assisting. Contact Amland at 319-936-7936 or drop off donations at 521 South Iowa Avenue in Washington.

Needed:
father – jeans size 32/34, shirts lg. Shoes 12
mother – pants 10/11, shirts med/lg. Shoes 8 1/2
son – size 10, shoes size 5
daughter – size 8, shoe size 13
son – size 6, shoe size 1
daughter – size 4, shoe size 12 toddler
infant daughter – size 2, shoe size 6 baby, diapers size 5