A Whitesburg firefighter on his way to work saw flames coming from a neighborhood home.

Just four days after Thanksgiving and less than a month before Christmas, Byron Thomas and his family are giving thanks that they are safe and sound.

"It is extremely hard to see what happened here, lost all of my belongings so that's hard to take. Both my children were out of the house and so was my wife, so that's a big blessing," said Thomas.

Their new home in Whitesburg caught fire early Monday morning.
The family bought the home weeks ago and was doing some remodeling before moving in.

"I came to the house about 4 a.m. to open the doors for the carpenters to get in," said Thomas.

The workers left Monday morning to go to the hardware store.
When they came back, the garage was burning.

A firefighter on his way to the station saw the smoke from Highway 15 and called it in.

"In that short of time something actually caught fire and burned real quick," said Gary Mullins, Whitesburg Fire Chief.

"I'm just thankful we weren't here. As long as my family's with me, family and friends, that's all that matters," said Thomas.

Firefighters are still investigating what sparked that blaze.

The family began moving all their belongings into the garage a few weeks ago.

The garage of the home was completely destroyed in Monday's fire.
Family members plan to stay with other relatives in the neighborhood for the next few weeks.