A family that should be celebrating the holiday season is now mourning the loss of their home to a fire.
A 12-year-old boy was also hurt in that fire. Eartha Gray said that boy was her nephew.
Gray said the fire started on the second floor of the home and the flames grew so fast her nephew was forced to jump out of a two-story window.
"I wasn't at home, but I got a phone call and my neighbor was telling me that my house was on fire. My nephew said he was looking for me he was coming from the back room and he said he couldn't see and he just panicked and ran back to his room and jumped out the window," Gray said.
Eartha Gray says she was at a friend’s house nearby when the fire started. Gray said in addition to her 12-year-old nephew, her cousin was also inside when the fire broke out.
Her nephew suffered a fractured ankle and minor smoke inhalation and was taken to Children’s hospital.
"To jump out of the second floor onto you know its grass out there but you know its like hard and um I don't know how he did it," Gray said.
This happened near north 20th and College street, and although the house is destroyed Gray is just glad no one was seriously injured.
"I haven't even looked at my bedroom I can just see my bedroom from the outside and I'm looking at all the stuff that's like burnt. I have no gifts, no money, my purse was even in the house. Right now, I have to smile to keep from crying. But you know I got God, I’m a strong believer and he's going to pull me through it," Gray said.
Unfortunately, the family didn’t have homeowner’s insurance, it's something Gray said she was planning to get at the beginning of the year. However, they've started a gofundme to help cover some of the expenses, due to this fire.
