A Florida firefighter and his family lost their home, as well as five pets, to a devastating fire Monday night.
Jacksonville firefighter Jessie Parkin had been working at the station when he received a frantic call from his wife, Caitlin, WJAX-TV reports. She and their two children had just returned to the couple's St. Johns County home to discover a fire had torn through the residence.
“I went to the front door, and the house was filled with smoke," Caitlin Parkin, who works at the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, told WJAX. "There was standing water on the floor. I saw a couple of my animals."
The family's two dogs, two cats and guinea pig died in the fire. That loss came as a blow to Jessie Parkin, who had never been the victim of a house fire despite responding to many of them.
“When you come home to that, and you look to your left, and you see members of your family have passed—no matter how tough you are, it’s going to break you down," he told WJAX.
Since the fire, the Parkins have received help from co-workers at the Jacksonville Fire Department and the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, as well as from their children's schools and community members. A friend also started a GoFundMe campaign for the family that has raised more than $13,000.
“Within 24 hours, for people to support us the way that they have, it really changes your whole way of thinking about just humanity,” Jessie Parkin said.
Go to the GoFundMe page to donate to the home recovery fund for the Parkin family.
