SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Wildfire season may be over but ‘tis the season for house fires.
Chris White moved to Sacramento nearly eight years ago with his wife and four children to escape the gun violence in his bay area neighborhood.
“The whole room, black smoke-filled, it was going, and I’m like 'ohhhh',” White said.
The promising life they’d built together quickly went up in flames.
“My daughter, she has mild autism so she was already panicking with me running back and forth and doing what I was doing so at that point I took them out," he said.
Kids made it out but their dog Cash ran back in.
“My kids and my wife was really attached to the dog," he said. "And I knew it was gonna be an issue.“
White said it took firefighters 40 minutes but they got cash out. They’re grateful their family and fur babies are all healthy.
“We're trying to keep their spirits up," Deja Brown said. "It's still the holidays, they still know other kids are getting gifts and stuff, so we're still trying to you know our moods up so it don't rub off on them.”
Everything from clothing and shoes to identification is gone. Kids are wearing crocks in 40-degree weather.
“it’s just tough," White said.
While the cause of their fire was electrical, fire officials are still warning everyone to be extra vigilant this holiday season.
“For November to January, it’s a busy season for structure fires," said Sac Metro Fire Captain Parker Wilbourn. "A lot of people haven’t been cooking throughout the year and then they cook their Thanksgiving turkey or they cook their Christmas roast and there’s a potential for hazard there when people aren’t paying attention.”
Pay attention to cooking, and pay attention to that Christmas tree to make sure it’s hydrated.
The National Fire Protection Association reported about 160 fires from Christmas trees from 2015-2019.
Despite what many tv shows and movies portray- many dogs will not bark or run away from a fire. 500,000 pets are affected each year. Experts say to know your dog's favorite hiding spot so you can quickly locate them in an emergency.
If you want to help Chris White’s family here is a link to their GoFundMe Me.
