David Levey, Battalion Chief with the Bartow County Fire Department, said that firefighters were dispatched to the Hidden Springs Mobile Home Park, 7020 Glade Road, Lot 30 at 3:20 p.m.
Levy said the double-wide trailer was already 75 percent lost when firefighters arrived on the scene.
"It was too dangerous to make entry, we began fighting from the outside," he said.
Homeowner Matthew Perryman said he had just pulled into the yard and opened the front door.
"I saw the right hand corner on fire," said Perryman who lived in the home with his wife and their three kids.
Nicole Perryman said opening the door sent oxygen inside. "There was a big ball of fire and that was it," she said.
Mrs. Perryman said her main concern was her dog and two birds that were trapped in the home. She said a box, containingher deceased brother's ashes also were in the trailer. "I begged them to save that one room," she said.
Perryman said her brother passed in 1987 and her mother wanted her to send his ashes to Florida.
"I just wanted him close to me," she said.
Perryman said her family had lived in the home for a little over a year and only owed $1,000 to pay it off.
Pamela Rotko, a neighbor of the Perrymans, said they lost everything. "It sucks, they need as much help as they can get," she said.
Late Friday night, Perryman told The Daily Tribune by phone that the Red Cross paid for a hotel for three nights and gave them money to buy clothes for the kids.
She also said that the box containing her brother's aches were retrieved as well as a container with old family pictures inside.
Levey said he's "looking into" accusations that a fireman used obscenities with the Perrymans.
"I can pretty much guarantee no obscenity was used from our firefighters," he said.
Levey said firefighters did have to call for crowd control, however.
Mrs. Perryman said that one fireman cursed at them and threaten to arrest her if she didn't stand back and be quiet. She later said that he apologized.
As for fire safety, Levy said with at least another cold month ahead of us, it's important to be safe when using supplemental heat. In this incident a space heater was left next to a couch.
He advised users to follow recommendations of manufacturers and keep heaters a safe distance from couches, curtains and area rugs."Just be careful using supplemental heat, fireplaces included," Levy advises.
Another point Levey stressed was the misconception that trailers burn faster than a house. He said it all depends on the building construction of the home; in this case the trailer was an older model with thin construction.