BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Felix family is leaning on one another after losing their house in a fire Monday evening.
Jasmine Felix, a mother of four, says she's grateful none of her children were seriously injured.
"We came outside to play with our chickens and about two minutes later our house was fully engulfed," Felix said.
Felix says if they hadn't been outside she wouldn't have been able to save her children.
"The firefighter told us that if we stayed in the house ten minutes longer we wouldn't have made it out," she said. "It was electrical. It started in our wall and it spread extremely fast."
The home on Buffalo's East Side has been around since 1960.
"Three of my children were born here. I was raised in this house. Myself, aunts, uncles, father as well," Felix said. "To be able to have my children brought up in this house as well is bittersweet, but we weren't ready for it to end."
Skylar Felix, 10, says she's grateful she and her family didn't get caught in the fire.
"Well, after the fire, I started to feel a little bit better because at least my family was saved," she said. "At least they weren't hurt."
The family cat didn't make it, and Felix says they had to surrender their dog, Nyla.
"Unfortunately, after the fire, we had to give her away to the shelter and put her on hold until we find some stable housing," she said.
Two years ago, the family started an affordable lawn care service for their community. The fire wiped out all of their supplies.
"Now that our equipment is damaged we don't plan to give up. We plan to start over and keep going," Felix said. "We know the house is a loss. So from this moment forward we're just leaving it in God's hands and hoping we can get the things that we need so we can move forward."
You can find more information and donate to the Felix family here.
