Local

Burke Co. home, Christmas presents destroyed in fire

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Firefighters are trying to figure out what caused a fire that destroyed a home south of Morganton on Friday morning.

Eyewitness News has learned that the homeowner had left to go pick up her young sons from school when the fire started at the house on Camp Meeting Road.

Firefighters from three different departments scrambled to bring the fire under control. The flames were so intense that they caused the roof to collapse, but fortunately nobody was hurt.

The homeowner, Melissa Ollis, fell to the ground after arriving at the home. The mother of a 4-year-old and 7-year-old said she lost everything she had in the fire, including Christmas gifts for the children.

"Where do you start? Where do you start when everything you have is in the house and goes to ashes? Where do you start from that? The only thing I can do is get on my knees and pray to God that he is somehow going to get me through this," Ollis said.

Fire investigators arrived on the scene just before noon and no cause has been determined yet.

Five different departments from the southern part of the county worked to put out the fire.

Ollis said she must find a new place to live.

"Prayers, that's all I can ask for, that the Lord will help us through this," Ollis said.