Just two days after watching her home go up in flames, Liza Williams took photos of the debris for her insurance company.

Her husband, Will, stooped over for a moment, looking through the charred pile of wood, drywall, furniture, clothes and toys. The size of the debris nearly swallowed the towering Phoenix firefighter.

“I have a picture of [him] in the debris looking for my wedding ring, and he’s so tiny compared to the pile,” she said. “I was just like — it’s huge.”

By then, the Williams family knew there would be no recovering the keepsakes, clothing or memories they had hoped to salvage after fire destroyed their Hidden Valley home.

What they didn’t expect was how quickly the community would rally behind them.

One neighbor rescued the family’s chickens before smoke overwhelmed the coop. Another delivered an RV for the family to stay in. Others offered to help clear the debris and Will’s coworkers at Phoenix Fire Department organized a GoFundMe.

“I’ve never seen or experienced that much heart in a community,” Williams said. “When there is an emergency, they show up.”

The fire started around 4 p.m. June 30 as the family was tending the lavender on their family business, Teva Farms.

Despite a quick response from Thunderbird and North Hidden Valley Fire Districts, strong winds pushed the flames through the crawl space underneath the manufactured home. A second fire rekindled the following morning, collapsing what remained.

“There was so much smoke. We watched the fire literally consume the whole crawl space, then we saw the two AC units on the roof cave in,” she recalled. “That’s when I knew they’re not going to be able to contain it [any time soon].”

The fire destroyed the family’s home, but spared the lavender farm they had been expanding. The greenhouse containing thousands of young plants sat a few yards away from the house.

“I don’t know how, because the ambient heat alone literally melted the side of the [greenhouse] wall down,” Williams said. “But it didn’t touch the lavender. It’s still sitting out there thriving.”

While the family waits for the rubble to clear and prepare to rebuild, tending the lavender, caring for the livestock and continuing daily work has given them purpose through the loss.

“We have faith and we press forward and we know that God will take care of us,” Williams said. “We don’t have any other way. I don’t know what else we would do if we weren’t getting up and working on the farm.”

For now, she said, the family’s focus is rebuilding and one day returning the kindness they received.

“We just want to hurry up and get back on our feet so we can give back,” Williams said. “Thank you is just not enough.”