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A Boise County woman is thankful to be holding her one-year-old safe in her arms.

Sara Elwood and her child, along with a roommate, were inside their house when they smelled smoke. They had moments to escape the Karney Fire, which investigators now say was likely started by arson.

Karney Fire photos

The home she was renting, along with all her belongings, was destroyed. Three other roommates also lost their belongings and vehicles in the blaze.

Elwood says that finding out that the fire was intentionally set makes coping with her loss much more difficult.

She was watching TV when she smelled smoke. By the time she alerted her roommate and grabbed her one-year-old, she could see flames.

"I put him in the jeep and buckled him in and backed up and by the time I went down the driveway there was fire on both sides of the driveway,” she said. “I literally had to drive through fire. There were smoldering embers flying through my jeep."

Her roommate, who was trying to turn on a hose by the house, barely escaped. In the chaos, she collided with a neighbor's car at the bottom of the road. The cars were totaled, but everyone escaped with injury.

"My emotions are all over the place,” Elwood says. “Sometimes I feel hollow, sometimes I'm filled with anger, sometimes I just want to cry, and sometimes I'm just happy that we got out."