Everyone was hoping that New Year’s Day 2021 would bring some good luck. Just about everyone was looking to turn the page on 2020.

But for the Salgado family of Avondale, Arizona, it was a disaster.

Who’s at the door?

While the disaster was already in progress, Nicole Salgado, her husband, and four kids had no idea anything was amiss until there was a loud banging on the door.

It was pretty early in the morning and no one was awake yet.

“We were all asleep,” Mrs. Salgado told CNN. “Then all of the sudden around 7:30 in the morning, we hear banging on our door and our doorbell is going off and we kind of get scared.”

Whoever was outside the door was getting more and more frantic. It would have been enough to startle anyone.

The parents react

Struggling to keep their wits about them after just having been roused from a deep sleep, Mrs. Salgado went to check on the kids while her husband went to investigate who was at the door and why.

When he opened it, he saw a familiar face – it was the family’s neighbor, Carolyn Palisch.

Still bleary-eyed, Mr. Salgado was confused but Palisch began shouting – their house was in fire!

“He opened the door and all I heard was our neighbor Carolyn saying your house is on fire you have to get out,” Mrs. Salgado recalled.

The disaster

The family only heard the ruckus at the door, so they had no idea that the real emergency was a housefire that they were about to sleep right through and possibly be caught in.

As the adults got all of the children to safety and located the family dogs, there was no time to think about grabbing shoes or jackets. Just about everyone ran out in their bare feet.

“It was just kind of frantic at first, making sure we got everyone out and the dogs out. Then once we realized the full extent of it, we were just in shock as we watched our home burn,” Mrs. Salgado said.

What a way to start the year

Fortunately, the Salgado family and their pets all got out safely. But, sadly, their entire house and all of their belongings were a total loss.

The family watched from the front of the house as their roof caved in shortly after they escaped.

Firefighters told the family that if Palisch hadn’t gotten their attention, it’s likely they would have perished from smoke inhalation.

“We are so thankful to just be alive,” Salgado wrote in a TikTok post.

A guardian angel

It would already be an amazing story, but it turns out that Palisch banging on the door was captured by the family’s doorbell camera.

Mrs. Salgado spoke to CNN on January 6th about the video going viral:

“Never did we think it was going to blow up the way it did. But we are so grateful. We are so glad it did for Carolyn, to show how amazing she is.”

Getting back on their feet

Friends of the family set up a GoFundMe campaign to help get them back on their feet – and it has now met its $50,000 goal.

While the reality of the situation is still sinking in, Mrs. Salgado posted to GoFundMe at the end of January, saying:

“Carol has been an angel and we are so thankful to her, everyday the realness sinks in more and more and idk what we would have done if she wasn’t our neighbor. All we can say is thank you for showing our family kindness and empathy. We love you all more than you know! It’s going to be a long journey.”

You can scroll down below to see the life-saving footage.

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Source: YouTube – Inside Edition, CNN, TikTok, GoFundMe