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Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, community help family recover from devastating fire last year

'It was just amazing,' Veronica Herbs said
Posted at 6:25 PM, Jul 21, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-21 18:25:44-04

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A Palm Beach County family's home was nearly destroyed in a house fire last year.

Now, 16 months later, a Lake Worth Beach area grandmother, her grandchildren and her son with special needs are back in their home thanks to their community.

On Sun Up Lane, you can hear the excitement in the air.

More than a year ago Veronica Herbs and her family came close to losing it all after a house fire.

Herbs family home damaged by fire near Lake Worth Beach in March 2020
A fire tore through the Herbs' family home in March 2020.

"It's just a lifetime of stuff that is gone," Herbs said. "It was flames, flames, eight fire trucks [responded to the fire]."

She and her ex-husband, two grandchildren and son with special needs barely made it out of the home.

Sadly their two cats did not survive, and the family did not have home insurance to cover the costs.

MORE: Palm Beach County family struggles to rebuild year after house fire

Herbs family home remodeled after fire
The family's home received a full remodeling after last year's fire.

However, deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office stepped in to help.

Her daughter, Rebecca, gathered friends and community members to help alongside sheriff's office deputies in rebuilding the home.

"With everybody that volunteered and donated. It was just amazing," Herbs said.

The new and improved Herb family home is complete with a brand-new kitchen, wider doorways and a wheelchair-accessible bathroom for their son, Josh.