JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – While many are enjoying Christmas festivities, one Jacksonville family is packing up to move after smoke from their heater filled their home.
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A woman who wishes to remain anonymous talked about being awoken by a burning smell. In a state of panic, she tried to call maintenance but received no response.
“I called the non-emergency line,” she said. “I told him, like, ‘I think the house is gonna catch on fire, like there’s smoke coming up from the heater.' And then he pulled like, this square, black thing that’s on the heater, and he pulled it out. When he pulled it out, it went and then the non-emergency told me to tell everybody that’s near the unit to get out.”
The family waited outside for hours as firefighters worked to clear the smoke.
“He was told by the firefighters that if he wouldn’t have removed that little block on time, the whole unit would have caught on fire,” the woman said.
The woman said she’s trying to remain strong for the holidays.
“I’m trying not to cry. I’m trying to do everything I need to for my girls,” she said.
Instead of celebrating and opening gifts, the family is now preparing to move.
“We were recommended by firefighters that we had to move but I don’t think we have to move,” she said. “I don’t think they’re gonna fix it, so we just waited for him to come and he said what he was told by the office was we can’t they can’t replace the whole thing. They stop to fix the part that’s burned.”
Despite the ordeal, the family remains thankful for their safety.