Tears still come and her voice still breaks when Ann Donovan talks about the fire three weeks ago that ruined most of her possessions, left her homeless and killed one of her pets.

“I’m just trying to keep a good attitude,” she said. “I’m kind of lost right now, but I just know everything’s going to be OK in the end.”

Donovan, 51, ran screaming in her pajamas from her mobile home on Saturday morning, April 24, after a malfunctioning clothes dryer caught fire and burned her home to the ground.

The fire occurred at Misty Meadows Mobile Village, near Fish and Woodard roads in Freeland.

Donovan had put a load of wet clothing into the machine a short time earlier, then had returned to her bed.

“There was a loud banging,” she said. “I looked up and there was smoke coming through the bedroom wall, and fire coming out of the bathroom.”

She ran out through the back door, then shouted for her pug dogs, Nana and Bubbles.

“My boy dog came to me, but my girl dog wouldn’t,” Donovan said with emotion. “I couldn’t get back in to get her.”

Bubbles was safe, but Nana died in the fire. Two cats escaped when a neighbor, 19-year-old DJ Davis, pried open the bottom of the front door.

Also destroyed in the fire were most of Donovan’s clothing, shoes, furniture, personal and family possessions and her grandchildren’s toys. She had no insurance.

“I’m glad I got out,” Donovan said Thursday while visiting her daughter Shannon Lawson in Greenbank. “And I’m glad my grandkids weren’t there.”

Her Misty Meadows neighbors rallied to help on the day of the fire, and the wider community has continued to offer comfort and support, Donovan said.

Representatives of the Islands Chapter of the American Red Cross arrived quickly to provide assistance, offering help with accommodations, food, clothing, medicine and other necessities.

Good Cheer thrift stores in Clinton and Langley provided fresh clothing on the day of the fire.

Staff and family members of residents at Maple Ridge Assisted Living Community in Freeland, where Donovan works as a medical technician’s aide, also have come forward with donations and support, Donovan said.

Gifts of money, furniture, blankets and clothing have flowed in.

“So many people have been so nice,” Donovan said. “This is a great community. They’ve been so good to me.”

What she needs now is a new home. Since the fire, she and Bubbles have divided their time with her daughter in Greenbank and a friend, Sylvia Delgado of Clinton.

Bubbles, in fact, has taken a shine to her daughter’s pet pit bull, and seems to be coming out of his shell, Donovan said.

“He was lonely and traumatized, and he’s really glommed onto her,” she said. “They’re a very unlikely pair.”

Donovan has lived on Whidbey Island for more than 20 years. She has a grown son and daughter and five grandchildren.

“I have no desire to live anywhere else,” she said.

Donovan said she elected to return to work less than a week after the fire.

“It seemed like I had to do something normal,” she said.

Donovan had been renting the mobile home for the past four years. The unit had been at Misty Meadows since 1975, said Peggy Berto, owner of the park.

The fire was the first at 10.5-acre Misty Meadows, which was established in 1963, Berto said.

There was at least a small silver lining for Donovan in an otherwise distressing situation. Workers clearing debris from the site of the fire found a small pink plastic box.

Inside was a baby tooth belonging to her oldest granddaughter, Ariez, now 11.

“The box was all covered in soot, but it wasn’t melted or anything,” She said. “It’s amazing.”

Donovan is determined to think positively about the future. She especially wanted to thank Jack Pruitt of Church of Christ in Bayview, who helped her with transportation.

“I have my family and I have my friends,” she said. “Once I find a place to live, it’s going to be fine.”

Donovan said she might change at least one other thing in her life, however.

“I may never use a dryer again,” she said.

To help Donovan, call the Red Cross chapter in Oak Harbor, 360-675-2912, or her daughter, Shannon Lawson, at 360-678-4931.