South Gate mom says fireworks caused blaze that destroyed Girl Scouts' storage unit

SOUTH GATE, Calif. (KABC) -- What was supposed to be a joyful and happy Fourth of July for 12-year-old Sarah Barron ended with a blaze that destroyed supplies in a storage area outside of her South Gate home.

"My son comes running and says 'Come out, come out, there's fire,'" said Sara Rosas, Barron's mother.

Rosas is also the leader of a South Gate Girl Scouts troop and said the fire ripped through a storage area that stored family keepsakes and all of the troop's supplies.

"In less than five seconds everything was burning. I can't believe it how fast the fire could just grow. I had all of my camping supplies because we were going to go camp," said Rosas.

According to Rosas, she ran outside and saw her next-door neighbors hosing down the fire.

"We started off with our triple-one tent, to two and just to get this amount of tents and then hear that it's burned down now is really sad," said Barron.

By the time the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived the fire was out. According to fire officials, they don't know what caused the fire and the case was closed because the fire was out when they arrived.

"I'm sure it was a firework," said Rosas. "I do believe it was because of Fourth of July."

Even though the fire destroyed the Girl Scouts' supplies, they are determined to fundraise and buy new ones in time to go camping this summer. The community has also stepped in to help by raising money and taking donations to give to the troop.

"I heard about the tragedy that happened to them and we as a community said, 'We cannot let that go without us trying to help them,'" said Thomas Buckley, a community leader. "Just the day before they were out there cleaning our community. So we wanted to do something and just kind of help them out."

"We are grateful for everyone," said Rosas.

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