Lacretia Spaulding of Fayetteville bought her first ever Fire scratch-off and won a $100,000 prize.

“The Fire one just caught my eye,” she said. “I guess the first time was a great time.”

Spaulding, 31, bought her lucky $5 Fire scratch-off from the Circle K on Pamalee Drive in Fayetteville. She then took the ticket to her truck and, with her husband driving, she started scratching.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” she recalled. “I kept saying, ‘No way, no way.’”

Spaulding said she never expected to win a prize like that.

“It’s a blessing,” she said. “Pretty awesome.”

She arrived at lottery headquarters Monday to collect her prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,251.

Spaulding said she plans to pay some bills and possibly take a family vacation with her kids to Florida.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise $2.5 million a day on average for education. For details on how $23 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Cumberland County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.