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Families rebuild after wildfires 
09:36 AM CDT on Sunday, April 12, 2009
SUNSET - Wildfire hot spots continue to burn across Texas.
So far, more than 140,000 acres statewide have burned.
The fire in Montague County is estimated to have charred 38,000 acres. There, the cleanup has begun.
More than 100 structures were lost to that fire, along with three lives.
It's never easy to move forward after a fire destroys everything you own.
It's even tougher for those families who struggle just to make it day to day.
One woman from Sunset lost everything.
Wanda Dunson stares at the rubble from a distance - afraid of stepping into the burned scene that used to be home.
"I just fall apart every time I look at it. That's why I am not going through it, it's all gone," she said.
Raging grassfires that swept through Montague Country destroyed her trailer in Sunset. It's the best home she's ever had.
"I don't know. Just remembering everything I had you know. Everything was paid for," she said.
It's her first time facing the pain a fire leaves behind, but her spirit has been burned so many times.
"Starting over and over and I am too old to start over you know," she said.
For her, starting over is about the basics, from replacing the stove she got last Christmas to the food that filled the refrigerator.
"I bought $200 worth of groceries and it's gone," she said.
Dunson lived with her son, his girlfriend and her two children -- the flames also destroyed their mobile home next door.
With her family's help, she got strength to go through the ashes.
They found tools and other things that could be saved -- they also found hope.
"It's another day to thank God we are still alive that we can keep going on.
It's all we can do," she said.
They are rebuilding, one day at a time.
E-mail mdiaz@wfaa.com
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