26-year-old Evan Nokhoudian says he's still shaking after Monday morning's fire at his parent's house on Village Drive in Lumberton.
The family was preparing for a visit from relatives when the fire spread through the house causing extensive damage.
"It's not safe to live here or even step inside. There's glass everywhere. Half the house is burned and the other half is just completely melted, something that you'd see in a horror film," Nokhoudian said.
Evan's mother, father and brother escaped along with two dogs and four birds.
Nadia Patric who lives next door went into panic mode when the Nokhoudians alerted her about the raging fire.
"Ashes were flying over, our whole siding got melted. Everything was torn off and glass shattered. First priority for me was to get my son, my disabled mom out, and it was just heart-throbbing. We felt the flames, we smelled the smoke," Patric said.
Standing in front of the burned-out house, Evan Nokhoudian knows homes can be repaired, but he will never be able to replace the family photographs that went up in flames.
"I have nothing of my daughters, of myself. Everything's gone. Christmas gifts and everything, they're all torn apart. Everything's melted," Nokhoudian said.
So what was to be a happy family gathering for the holidays has turned out very differently as the victims struggle to regroup and recover from this devastating fire.
