(ABC 6 News) — The Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office told ABC 6 News that a house fire in Freeborn left the home a total loss.

A neighbor saw the fire at around 1:30 a.m. while taking their dog outside and reported it to law enforcement.

“It was fully involved, the fire was through the roof and coming out basically all of the windows in the house, we made an initial attack, we requested mutual aid from Alden, Heartland, and Manchester fire departments, Freeborn ambulance also responded,” Freeborn Fire Chief Steve Seipp said.

All of the family’s pets, five dogs and four cats, were killed in the fire. The family was at a hotel at the time of the fire.

With that help, they were able to get the fire under control, but those efforts went well into the night as firefighters continued to come back to the scene to douse any remaining flames.

According to neighbors, the remnants of the fire continued to smoke well into the afternoon. One passerby said it’s tough watching a family’s home get reduced to ash.

“We had to drive by it, and I feel bad for the people that lost their house, I find it very sad, it’s something you don’t see every day,” Katherine Sime said.

The homeowners, Brandon and Megan Peterson, had just purchased the house two weeks ago. They also didn’t have homeowners’ insurance on the property yet.

There is a GoFundMe to help the Peterson family, and their Venmo can be found below as well:

The cause of the fire remains undetermined at this time.

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(ABC 6 News) – A Freeborn family started an online fundraiser after a house fire, according to a GoFundMe created Tuesday.

The fundraiser’s description stated the following:

“On December 31st 2024, the house of Brandon Peterson and Megan Peterson in Freeborn caught on fire due to an electrical issue while all their pets and all of their belongings were stuck inside. They had just bought the house on the 19th of December and did not get insurance yet on the house, they have nothing left. Megan had just given birth on December 4th 2024 and they have another child in school. Anything helps while they navigate through this hard time!”

If you would like to donate to the Peterson family, click HERE.

A neighbor who wished to stay anonymous said told ABC 6 News that they woke up around 3 a.m. and could see fire trucks out on the street and smoke coming from the house.

This is a developing story. ABC 6 News will provide more information as it becomes available.