WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A family of 12 is without a home after their house caught fire on Christmas Day.
Winston-Salem fire crews were called to a home on the 1800 block of East 5th Street Monday afternoon. That is where the family said their outside nativity scene caught fire.
The homeowner's son said six adults and six children lived inside the home. Some of them had to use a ladder to climb out of a 2nd-floor window to escape the flames. A woman was hurt on the climb down.
For nearly a decade, the family has lived in this home and each year they put together a nativity scene. This includes hay, lights, and other items. The family said the fire started in the front of the house while everyone was inside celebrating Christmas.
“The main belongings that really got burnt were my parents and my young brothers. The fire did kind of make it upstairs so most of my belongings got burnt,” Gil Rodriguez, a family member who lives in the home, shared.
Rodriguez said his father was truly devastated by the fire. This was his investment for the future of his family.
"It was all his hard work, blood, and sweat to fix this house. My father did it with his own money," Rodriguez said.
The Winston-Salem Fire Departmentt ruled the fire as accidental and said the cause was defective ornament lights.
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