ST. LOUIS — Surveying the damage of her north St. Louis home is not how Jeanie Bland wanted to ring in the new year.
"Oh yeah, it's really bad. You'll see nothing but brick on the inside," she said standing outside the property.
But the mother of three and longtime resident of the city's Academy neighborhood said it's her only option right now.
"We either rebuild or start all over. It's all we can do," she said.
Her problems began Monday night around 11:30 when her family's two-story home lost power.
"I woke up in a cold dark house," Bland recalled.
Around the time she went to bed, she said she remembered hearing several gunshots outside.
"They were shooting for New Year's Eve celebrations or whatever," Bland said.
Bland said she went outside and learned a power box might have been struck by gunfire.
So, without a warm place to stay, she said she packed up her son, boyfriend and their dog and left.
"We stayed in the car, drove around," Bland said.
Around 6:15 a.m., Bland said they all returned home to the 5100 block of Cabanne Avenue.
She believed the power had been restored, but there was a bigger problem.
Her home was on fire.
"There was smoke and everything coming from the second floor," Bland said. "It was awful. To see where you live, it was just awful."
Bland said she called 911 and managed to safely save what they could. She said firefighters helped rescue her son's scooter that he just got for Christmas.
"I got my son's TV, his PlayStation and thank you to the St. Louis Fire Department for putting my son's scooter in the bathroom so he still has it," she said.
As for other, more basic items, Bland said those were destroyed.
"Regular clothes, my clothes, they're gone."
But she's not letting the family be defeated.
Her only hope is the rest of 2019 will be better than how it started.
"Things should be better. Even though today was a bad day, it'll get better," she said.
Ameren told 5 On Your Side it responded to the scene at the request of the fire department at 6:22 a.m., but found no issues upon inspection.
5 On Your Side has reached out to police about reports of gunfire in the area, but haven't heard back.
The St. Louis Fire Department is looking into the cause of the fire, but can't say yet what might've caused it.
