DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — It's the call 911 dispatcher Marisa Anderson never thought she'd hear.
“I was at work. It was just a normal day,” Marisa said. “A 911 call came in and I could hear kids in the background screaming ‘Mom,’ but I thought maybe they were talking to their mother, that it was an emergency with their mom, I didn't realize they were calling for me.”
She looked up the coordinates to the call, and the realization slowly sank in when she heard her 17-year-old daughter Emma yelling “Mom” and shouting their address.
“There’s flames in the backyard in the house!” her kids yelled over the phone.
That was how Marisa found out her own house was on fire.
“It's probably just tragic irony that the person who helps us helps others, that day needed help,” Southern Door Fire Chief Rich Olson said.
Marisa's 12-year-old son Landon was sleeping when he heard glass breaking.
He immediately got out and woke up his sister, 17-year-old Emma before calling 911.
"I’m unbelievably proud of them," Marisa said. "They did exactly, my son especially, he did exactly what he was taught… and that’s a lot to put on a 12-year-old."
When Marisa realized it was her kids, she retained composure as she handed off the call to her supervisor.
"Hold on, Mom will be there soon,” she told her kids.
Her kids were able to get out of the burning home, but several pets were killed.
“My son is taking it very, very difficult… he wishes he would have gotten the pets out in time,” Marisa said. “I'm just reminding him every day how lucky I am that he's here today.”
Southern Fire Chief Richard Olson says the kids did exactly the right thing in getting out immediately.
“With some confidence, we think that Landon would not have been able to get back out,” Olson said.
Now, the family has a GoFundMe to raise money to rebuild and Marisa's sister Shauna McLean-Samonar is collecting donations at her house.
"I've broken down several times with people dropping off clothing at the house and how generous everyone is," Shauna said.
The GoFundMe has already raised more than $11,000.
"I just thank the community and everyone for helping out as much as they have," said Anderson.
Meanwhile, investigators believe the fire was started because of electrical cord issues.
