Returning home to his two pups after a “brutal” overnight double shift, Jon Lea (like tea) was finally able to put his head on his pillow, hoping to get some sleep before reporting back to work later that night. It wasn’t going to be easy.

With no air-conditioner, Lea opened every window in the tiny trailer — smaller than many travel trailers on the road — giving him a little fresh air, but also the light; not exactly ideal sleeping conditions.

He said he was lucky to find the place, moving in the weekend prior with a month-to-month lease. Lea was previously transferred from his job at Walmart in Cheyenne to the Cody store. When he arrived he struggled to find a place to rent. He lived in a local hotel for months before hearing about the trailer.

Finding a landlord willing to allow his dogs, Belle and Beauty, and be affordable is tough in Park County. He jumped at the opportunity in his frustrating search to find a home.

At 3:23 p.m. the fire call went out. Lea’s neighbor Bob Walter was in his nearby home when he was startled by the property manager pounding on his door and yelling to evacuate the area. Homes are very close in the park and the fire was out of control.

“The manager was yelling for me to get out,” Walter said.

Yet, it was Lea’s chocolate lab mix, Belle, who woke him from a deep sleep to alert him to the fire. Lea, Belle and Beauty made a dash for the door, barely escaping the flames.

“I kicked the front door of the trailer open, and I just ran out with the girls,” Lea said, speaking of his two female Lab/mixes. “Belle had to get me up. I had just worked like a 16 or 17-hour shift and it wasn’t easy to get to sleep,” Lea said.

The open windows provided plenty of fuel for the fire and the entire place was fully engulfed prior to the swift arrival of Powell firefighters.

“It burnt everything. I mean, there was nothing left inside, no walls; it even burnt up all the tin on the outside [of the trailer] for the most part,” said Fire Chief Dustin Dicks.

Located in Scott’s Granite Park on the east side of Powell, the flames were so hot that it melted the paint, plastic and some of the metal on Walter’s 2014 Chevy Silverado. The truck was a total loss by the time the fire was under control and it was safe to return, Dicks said.

Walter said his insurance company totaled the truck.

Having just moved in, Lea had yet to secure renter’s insurance. He lost everything but the clothes he had on, including his paperwork and driver’s license. Knowing the damage that was caused, Lea feels absolutely horrible about the losses those around him suffered.

“I feel bad. I lost everything. I don’t have anything left. But I really feel bad for the guy I rented the place from,” he said. “And then I feel bad, obviously, for the neighbor.”

Lea didn’t know his neighbor yet. Working nights makes it hard to get to know the folks in the park, he said. He had lived in the trailer for such a short amount of time, he had yet to even learn his address by heart. But those neighbors and Park County residents have come to the rescue.

A gofundme.com account was set up for him by Powell High School graduate Alyssa Gould with a goal of raising $7,000 to help get Lea back on his feet. As of Wednesday morning there was less than 10% of the goal pledged. The Red Cross brought him some supplies and there are drop off sites in both Cody and Powell already set up. And Walmart helped him find a hotel — this time in Cody.

The fact that people are raising money to help the Walmart employee is hard for Lea as well. He seems obsessed with trying to find a way to make things “right,” and taking charitable donations is hard for the proud man.

“I moved to Wyoming from South Florida a little over five years ago and the community here has been overwhelming. If this would have happened to me back where I came from — I mean, nobody would have batted an eye,” he said. “The communities here in Powell and Cody have been absolutely amazing, like I’ve never ... I’ve never felt anything like this,” he said, finding it hard to hide his emotions.

He also is thankful for his Labs. Belle was the hero of the day. Without her assistance the fire could have easily resulted in a fatality.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Dicks said.

To help: gofundme.com/f/support-jon-bell-and-beauty-after-home-fire.