IMMOKALEE, Fla. — A house fire in Immokalee has left 19 people, including five children, without a home just days before Thanksgiving.
Tom Cunningham, deputy chief of Immokalee Fire Control District, says the call came in around 7:45 a.m. Sunday on Dixie Avenue West.
Cunningham says when crews arrived, smoke and flames were rising from the back of the single-family house. He adds that thankfully no one was hurt from the fire or smoke.
"The damage was contained to a portion of the rear of the home but because there were some electrical issues, so until that meter gets put back on, and some repairs are done to the home they'll be displaced," said Cunningham.
Because of that, the family cannot live there. The Red Cross is now getting the family the help they need days before the family holiday.
"The needs are dependent on factors like clothes they'll need and somewhere that them to stay and obviously that grows, the more people that they're helping," said Dariana Molina, regional communications manager for Red Cross South Florida.
While the family reels with the emotions this fire brings, Molina says they are working to be the emotional support the family needs.
"When they see one of us in our uniforms coming up to them just ready to help and compassionate with a listening ear, you'll find that they'll just start talking, and that alone is comforting," said Molina.
Chief Cunningham says the state Fire Marshall is still looking into the cause of the fire, but he says it is not suspicious.
