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WEST VALLEY CITY – Jolie Ruiz was still numb as she recalled what happened, the morning of Sept. 4.
"It's hard to put into words, the feelings, emotions," she said.
Ruiz was still asleep when her teenage son woke her up and said their house was on fire.
"My kids were all in the kitchen with bowls and Kool-Aid jugs, and they were putting out the fire," she said.
West Valley City police spokeswoman Roxeann Vainuku said investigators are still looking into what caused the fire at the home near 3600 West and 4500 South, but they have ruled it, accidental.
The fire started on the outer deck and spread to the kitchen.
On Tuesday, there was a sign posted on the front door that said no one should enter the kitchen, living room, east bedroom and east end.
Ruiz said after the fire, crews let her and her kids get some of their belongings.
"They let us go back in the morning time, one-by-one, told us we had two minutes each," she said."
The family returned to the home Friday night to try to see what they could salvage, but Ruiz said it was too dark.
So they went back Saturday morning, only to find the home had been ransacked.
"I returned to the home to find it vandalized, broken into and everything gone," Ruiz said. "Social (Security cards), birth certificates, important papers, all the clothes, furniture, everything."
Ruiz doesn't know why someone would take advantage of their situation, but she wonders if it was someone they know.
"It's devastating, it's hard to cope with," she said.
Ruiz called police, who said they are aware of the burglary and will be investigating.
Ruiz, a single mother, lives with four of her six children. She said the Red Cross put them up in a hotel for two nights.
Now they are staying with friends.
"It's hard to swallow, don't know what to do next, how to start," she said.
Ruiz says she did not have renter's insurance.
She's gone through a lot the past few days and is just trying to focus on what's most important.
"It's hard, it's hard, but we're together and the kids are fine," she said.
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