Christmas Tree Blamed for Fire that Burned Allen Firefighter's Home

A warning for anyone who still has a live Christmas tree in their home.

Fire officials say if it's dried out, get it out of your house.

The warning comes after a tree caught fire overnight at the home of an Allen firefighter who happened to be out fighting a fire at the time.

Jeremy West, a father of four, was working at a house fire in Allen around 3:30 a.m. Thursday when he got the call from his wife.

“She called me at 3:30, 4 a.m. so obviously I know it's bad. I answered and she was hysterical or frantic as you can imagine and I didn't skip a beat,” West said.

West rushed home to find the inside of his house burned, melted and damaged by smoke.

Fellow firefighters are helping his family pick up the pieces.

“This is the first time I had to do it on my own and I gotta tell you it’s, it’s pretty hard. It does choke me up a little bit to see him hurting like this,” said Capt. Matt Madding.

“We live with each other one-third of our lives and you do gain the brotherhood and sense of family,” said Assistant Fire Chief David Cannaday.

It's unclear what sparked the fire but investigators with the Celina Fire Department say two, dried-out Christmas trees are how it spread.

Only a truck full of clothes could be salvaged.

“I don't think we're in need of anything. We have each other. We have all the support. That's all we need,” West said.

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