LEWISTON — The parents of a family that escaped a fire that destroyed their home Thursday on College Street say their 3-year-old daughter alerted them to the blaze as it was starting to spread.

“Ayla came upstairs and was acting weird with her body posture and she said, ‘Mommy, there’s a spider and it’s small and it keeps getting bigger,'” Shanena Barnes said Friday. “I told Ayla that she was being silly and then she got really tense and she told me to come downstairs and she pulled me.

“When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw the corner of the table was on fire with some of the chairs.”

Fire crews were called to 87 College St. about 4:30 p.m. They arrived to flames and heavy smoke on the first floor of the three-story home.

Barnes and her husband, Magnus Knudsen, got out safely along with Ayla, 8-year-old daughter Arlia and 6-year-old daughter Niyah. The house is owned by Hope House Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides neighborhood support to families.

The Hope House’s operations will not be affected by the event, said Bruce Willson, co-chair of Hope House Inc. along with his wife, Jan.

The fire department has not released the cause of the fire, but Jan Willson said she thinks it was electrical, most likely from a power strip.

The house has been deemed a total loss, leaving Barnes and her family to pick up the pieces — with the help of Hope House and the broader community.

Barnes said the fire destroyed everything the family had, from clothing to the kids’ artwork. They ran out with nothing but what they were wearing. She said one of her cats managed to survive, but two kittens did not make it.

Despite all this, she said she’s thankful that everyone made it out safe.

“It’s hard to process that we have absolutely nothing,” said Barnes. “All of our personal information, gone. All of our children’s pictures that we started putting on the wall, gone like they weren’t even there. But we have each other and that’s the most important thing.”

Barnes said the fire caused trauma to everyone in the family. She said Niyah is emotionally struggling because of the unstableness. Ayla is struggling with the sudden change and witnessing the fire. The eldest is struggling with the loss of her kittens that passed away in the fire. Her husband, who was injured at work and is on a knee scooter, is upset he couldn’t do more to help, she said.

With everything the family is dealing with, Barnes was still positive. She said the events following the fire have been a bit of a blur, but what has stuck with her is how much people have come forward to support her family.

“I had a friend of mine come and get the kids’ jackets,” said Barnes. “I had another person who I’ve never seen before give me a white robe-shawl kind of thing. The next-door neighbor watched my kids for three to four hours while we were out there, gave them shoes, fed them. A homeless couple that we’ve been helping since we moved in gave us hugs.

“When I first moved here, there was such bad talk about Lewiston, but they’re the nicest people ever. I’ve never seen this kind of love. … Lewiston came and helped us not fall to the ground.”

Barnes said she and her family are working with the Red Cross to find a place to live.

In the meantime, she said anyone interested in donating can drop items off at the Hope House at 91 College St.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the family.

Jan Willson said it makes sense that the neighborhood is helping Barnes and her family, because the family has often helped those in the neighborhood.

“They have a passion for serving people,” she said. “They step up and help the community.”

Willson shared a story about the family, holding back tears.

“When they moved in, a little boy ran into the street and was hit by a car,” she said. “Magnus and Shanena were there to comfort the mom and hold her and wait with her while the ambulance came. That’s how a community should be. And I told Shanena, ‘This is the impact you made in the community in the last year.'”

Barnes said she’s just trying to treat others how she would want to be treated if she were in their shoes.

“In the beginning we had people doing drugs between the two buildings, but once they saw people would offer them food or help, it would be almost nonexistent,” Barnes said. “They would tell their friends to go see Magnus on the porch and his wife will help.

“It’s more the joy of helping others and seeing them smile and knowing we’re there for them.”