Mom Was Nursing Her 4-Day-Old Baby When Fire Started in Their Mobile Home. They Escaped but Lost Everything

A California mother was breastfeeding her newborn when a fire broke out inside her home — forcing her to flee with only her baby in her arms. Although both are now safe, the young family has been left with nothing.

The fire started on the afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 4, while Violeta Nieto was nursing her 4-day-old daughter, Tahlia, inside their mobile home in Fallbrook, according to local outlets ABC affiliate KGTV and NBC affiliate KNSD.

Nieto said she noticed electrical sparks in a drawer, and smoke quickly began to fill the room after her landlord turned the power back on. The electricity had gone out the previous night during a storm, the outlets reported.

“With my sweater, I wrapped her,” Nieto told KNSD. “All I grabbed was her.”

From outside, she could only watch as the home she’d lived in for 14 years was engulfed in flames within minutes. Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to livestock pens and other nearby structures, but everything inside her home was destroyed, according to KGTV. Nieto estimates she lost about $10,000 worth of belongings — and she does not have renters’ insurance.

“My tablet, my phone, her clothes — everything was in there. All of our stuff is in there,” the new mom told KNSD, explaining that her biggest fear in the moment was her baby inhaling the smoke. “Paperwork from the hospital. Her bag,” she added, listing just some of the items that were lost.

An investigation into what caused the fire is still underway.

As Nieto tries to rebuild her life, her sister has created a GoFundMe page to support her recovery efforts. So far, the fundraiser has raised more than $11,000 to help cover baby supplies, formula and other essentials.

“Violeta is a brand-new mother, recovering from childbirth and postpartum healing, and she is currently unable to work,” her sister, Tania Cisneros, wrote on the fundraiser page. “She now faces the unimaginable challenge of caring for her newborn with absolutely nothing left.”

Despite the devastation, Nieto is focusing on what she still has. “She’s safe, and I get to carry her in my arms,” she said of her daughter. “It gives me hope everything will get better.”