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Little girl a hero after saving her family from fire that destroyed their northwest Ohio home

The family says they can't imagine what would have happened if their 7-year-old niece wasn't there to alert them of the fire in the playroom.

DESHLER, Ohio — A Deshler family is hailing a young girl a hero.

A fire over the weekend tore through their home, leaving them with nothing. Now, they credit their 7-year-old niece for helping them to get out alive.

A completely burned-down trailer is all that's left of Bryce Hummel's and Briana Hepp's home in Deshler.

"It was a place to call home. And seeing it just up in flames, it hurt me. I fell to the ground and cried. I said, 'now I don't have a place to call home,'" said Hepp, who is Hummel's fiancée. 

A fire in one of the rooms completely engulfed the home Saturday morning.

Credit: Roxanne Elias/WTOL 11

"My niece and my two boys were sitting in their room playing," explained Hepp. 

Hepp is now crediting her 7-year-old niece for alerting her to the fire in that room.

"I went out to aunt Bri. There was smoke. And there was a little fire in my playroom," said Natalie Tussing, the niece of Hummel and Hepp. 

Hummel actually bought the trailer for a dollar. But, he says he had to put in at least $5,000 to fix it in order to raise his 1-year-old and 2-year-old sons.

"I was hoping it would provide at least 18 to 20 years more than probably what it was worth, to me. But I mean, it's worth a home to me. A home for my family to be raised in. And now as you guys can see, there's pretty much nothing left," said Hummel. 

The family has stayed in a hotel and is now staying with family, but would like to find another place to call home again.

"Now it's like we come here. There's no trailer. It's just nothing but ashes and black and just burnt. It's really devastating to me and my boys, and my niece and my brother-in-law. 'cause we have nothing," said Hepp. 

"It's devastating how I can just come back here and just look at it and you know, think back of how it was before I left home that day," added Hummel. 

No one was hurt but the loss still weighs heavily on the family.

"I liked calling this home, too. 'cause it's like our home, too," said Tussing.

We reached out to the Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office. They say something electrical caused the fire and it appears to be an accident.

The family is asking for any donations to help. You can donate to a GoFundMe for them at this link.

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