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PROVO — JenNessa Law will have a wedding dress when she gets married in September.
But as of Friday, that's about it.
Law said she and her soon-to-be husband were best friends in the 2nd grade and she has been planning her dream wedding for a while. However, the garage and part of her house, where she's currently living with her parents and a younger sibling, caught fire early Friday. In the garage were all the items that were going to be used for her backyard wedding on Sept. 13.
"We don't know where we're going to have the wedding now," said the woman's mother, Connie Law.
The one item that was saved was the bride's wedding dress. It was at a shop being altered.
"That is the one thing I have. It is at the alternation shop. I am so thankful that it wasn't here," JenNessa Law, 23, said. "It probably would have been ruined.
"Everything I was saving for my wedding was back there next to the paints. So it's completely gone," she said.
The dress being spared from the fire was actually the second stroke of luck for the family Friday. The first was Law's father waking up before the smoke detectors went off.
Everything I was saving for my wedding was back there next to the paints. So it's completely gone.
–JenNessa Law, bride-to-be
"My husband heard some cracking noises. He thought it was fireworks. He thought it was strange at 4:30 in the morning. He looked out the window and noticed smoke billowing out of the garage. And he just yelled, 'Fire!' And we just all got out as fast as we (could)," Connie Law said.
"All I hear is, 'Fire!'" added JenNessa about being woken up. "It's just too surreal for words. I was like, 'Is this real? Am I still dreaming?'"
The husband was lucky to hear the popping sound, said Provo Fire Battalion Chief Jeremy Headman. But the house also had working smoke detectors that started going off a short time later.
When the first fire crews arrived, flames were shooting 20 feet over the roof, Headman said. The fire was believed to have started inside the garage. What sparked it remained under investigation Friday.
In the garage were antiques from Norway.
"Actual heirlooms we were storing as wedding decor. Now they're gone. Just gone," JenNessa Law said.
Connie Law's car also fell victim to the fire.
We don't know where we're going to have the wedding now.
–Connie Law
"My car's in the garage. It's dead. I've always wanted a garage to put my car in. Now I don't have a car," she said, still trying to comprehend the damage shortly after the flames were extinguished. "It hasn't sunk in. You feel like you're in denial. Is this really happening?
"We're all out safe. That's the most important thing," Law said.
One dog and a cat also made it out safely, although a second cat was unaccounted for Friday, Headman said.
Three fire crews from Provo and an additional crew from Orem were called to help extinguish the blaze. The intense heat from the flames melted some of the siding of the house next door.
The fire partially extended into the attic of the Laws' home. Headman praised the firefighters for preventing the entire house from burning down.
Damage was estimated at $100,000 to $150,000. The family will not be able to occupy the home for at least a few days. But Headman said many friends and neighbors of the Laws were offering to help pitch in with food and shelter.
Contributing: Ashley Kewish
