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Newnan firefighter and family who lost brand new home to tornado thankful for community support

Jason Scott was working his shift as a Newnan firefighter when a tornado destroyed his home. His wife Rebecca kept their 1-year-old and dog safe. "She's the hero."

NEWNAN, Ga. — Rebecca Scott and her husband, Jason, moved into their brand new build home on Smokey Road just one month ago. 

On March 25, Jason was working his 24-hour shift as a Newnan firefighter. Rebecca went to bed on the second floor and was awakened a couple of hours later to lightning. 

"We live in a very wooded area, so its normally dark at night, and when I woke up I saw how bright it was," she recalled. "It was constant lightning. It was yellow and green outside. Not normally how it looks."

She then grabbed their 1-year-old daughter and moved the a bedroom on the first floor for safety. That's when her step daughter texted to check in on Rebecca.

"She said they were watching the news and they saw that [the tornado] was over our home at the time that we were texting," she said.

Credit: Scott Family
Jason, Rebecca and their 1 year old daughter Harlee

As soon as she received that text, she grabbed her daughter and dog and went into the bathroom. That's the room she felt safest in, given that their two-story home does not have a basement.

"I just sat on the floor of the bathroom and waited about a minute. Then I just heard wind. It got so loud," she recalled. "My daughter is still sleeping at this time and I just laid down on top of her on the bathroom floor. It hit our home."

Credit: Scott family

She remembers those moments being two to three minutes long, but thinks it really all happened in 30 seconds.

"It all went quiet," she then said. "Then we started hearing water. That's when I opened the door to the bathroom and saw water coming from the second floor."

Meanwhile, her husband is on hour 15 of his shift when radios in his fire station start to go off.

"Our radio started going crazy ... tornado hit here, tornado hit here, people trapped," he recounted. "Just nonstop. Cars flipped. It just started going crazy."

His mind immediately went to his family. Rebecca was not immediately able to get ahold of Jason after the tornado.

"When I came out, I didn't have any service on my phone," she said. "Everything went black on my phone. I couldn't even contact anybody. A few minutes later I did get cellphone reception, and the first thing I saw was messages from him trying to see if I was okay."

To Jason, not hearing from Rebecca for those minutes seemed like an eternity. He finally was able to speak to her and then told his fire chief what had just occurred. 

When he got to his driveway, it was blocked by dozens of trees.

"I got out of the car and all I could see was a little cellphone light coming through the trees and it was Becca climbing over the trees and holding the baby," Jason said, voice choking up with emotion. "Even our dog. She saved our dog, you know? I've been to fires where the family loses their home and pet. She even managed to lead our dog through all the trees without a leash."

He was able to see some of the damage to the home, too. Seventy-five percent of their second floor was now open to the sky.

Credit: Scott Family
Photograph of the second floor of the Scott household after a tornado ripped through their Newnan home.

"I don't think it really hit me until the next day when I went back to the house and saw the destruction and saw in the light what Becca had to climb through," he said. "I was like wow, she's the real hero. She laid down on top of my child."

The bedroom where their 1-year-old was sleeping in an hour earlier was caving in. The other bedroom, which belongs to Jason's daughter, 14-year-old Peyton, who wasn't home during the tornado, also was destroyed.

"My oldest daughter she's still pretty traumatized," Jason said. "Even though she wasn't there, she came and saw how her room is basically on the ground and she won't go to the second floor of the house where we're at now."

Jason dropped his family off at his aunt's house and went back to work an hour later, helping his neighbors recover from what his family just lost.

"From what I know as of now, there was one death in the whole tornado," he said. "I just want to say I feel horrible for that family who lost someone. I'm sorry for you and I know the man that passed, he was going to try and be with his daughter, and I've got three daughters myself, so I can only imagine trying to get to them."

Credit: Scott family

The neighbors are helping right back. They've set up an online fundraising page and others have been helping them clean up their property. 

"It seemed like anybody in Newnan that owned a chainsaw was out on the streets willing to cut people out or make a path or do whatever they could, so from all the first responders to city maintenance, utility ... it was a city effort," Jason described. "Nothing I did was any more special than what anybody else did that night."

The fundraising page will help them clear their land from the many trees that have filled up their yard and help them get back on their feet.

"Becca's smile when she saw the land, the scenery, the wilderness ... every time we walked out of the house she'd say, 'I can't believe this is ours.' It's just devastation now," Jason said. "I know there are so many people out there going through awfulness and devastation. We're no more deserving than them. We just want our children to have a yard to play in again."

If you'd like to donate to the family, click here.

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