Texas family of 10 loses pets, house in grease fire started by a smoking Thanksgiving turkey

The family lost everything but is grateful they all made it out safely.

SOUR LAKE, Texas — A family in Sour Lake has lost their home due to a grease fire from smoking their Thanksgiving turkeys overnight.

The house on Highway 326 held a family of ten. They were smoking two turkeys in an old grill in their front yard, which started the grease fire, according to a family member, Desta Marie Gonzalez.

“We had one turkey in the oven and two were cooking outside. And the two that were cooking outside were for me to bring up here. For our guests who weren’t gonna be home, be able to go home for Thanksgiving,” said Denise Lerma.

HELP | Donate to help the Lerma family

Around 1 a.m. Lerma’s son woke the family up when the fire was first noticed.

“He came running in the room saying ‘the house is on fire, the house is on fire, get up!’,” Denise said.

In that moment Denise went into survival mode to get her family out.

“We have a big family. It’s a lot of us to get out. Everything was just moving so fast,” said Denise.

Some of the family were able to escape the house through a window, while others managed to get out through the back door, Desta Marie told 12News.

Everyone looked out for one another so they could all make it out of the house safely.

“He’s the one that got me and my kids out. I just grabbed her and grabbed my bag. And he grabbed him. And they pulled her out the bed,” said Danielle Lerma.

No one was injured, but the family was forced to leave behind their beloved chihuahua and three parakeets who are presumed dead, according to Desta Marie. The family has three Labrador dogs that survived the fire, but they are asking for families to foster the dogs now.

The Lerma family is still grateful to walk away with each other.

“Whatever clothes we went to sleep in is the clothes we left in, and that’s the only thing we have,” said Desta Marie.

It took Sour Lake firefighters an hour and half to put the massive fire out, Desta Marie told 12News.

Currently the family is staying at a hotel in Beaumont. A GOFUNDME has been set up to help them.

“We have a GOFUNDME to help buy clothes for us, maybe we can find somewhere to live other than a hotel. Even if it’s small we’ll still make it work,” said Desta Marie.

Desta provided a list of clothes sizes if the public would like to donate to them to the family.

• The 8 year-old boy is a size 7 in clothes and a 1 in shoes.
• The 3 men’s shirt sizes range from Medium to 2XL. Pant sizes are 29/30, 38/40 and 36/38. Their shoe sizes are 9.5, 7.5 and 7.
• The 10- year-old little girls is a size 12 in clothes and a size 4 in shoes.
• The 3 month old little girl is a size 0-3, 3-6.
• The 4 women’s pants sizes are 12-18. Their shirt sizes are Large through 2X. Their shoe sizes are 7.5 and 8.

Surviving this scary ordeal has made the Lerma family grateful for their lives and each other.

“That’s what your grateful for the most is family. Everything else is replaceable. Everything else,” Danielle said.

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