Jacksonville family tries to rebuild their life after losing almost everything in a house fire

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After a fire tore through their home last month, a Jacksonville family was only able to salvage a doll, some hats and very little else.

Now they’re trying to rebuild their lives with a baby on the way.

“When a fire happens like that you lose your entire life,” Leonidas Papadopoulos said.

Papadopoulos and Kelsey Eging looked at what remains of their home with heavy hearts.

Just last month, a fire that started underneath their home quickly spread and destroyed almost everything they owned.

The family was thankfully not home at the time.

“We lost our animals, but our human life. The kids and stuff weren’t in their rooms and thankfully they’re okay,” Eging said.

The parents and their oldest two were on the way to learn the gender of their baby.

The youngest sibling was in school.

Eging said her father, who lives with them, was in the hospital with COVID when the fire broke out. She said his hospitalization may have saved his life.

“Thankfully he was in the hospital because he works the night shift and he would have been in the home,” Eging said.

However, now they’re left with the hollow shell of what they used to call their perfect home.

They said they were only able to save a few things.

“As far as the kids’ things go, they’re gone,” Eging said.

Now the family is living with Eging’s mother, trying to find a new space to live in.

Even though the thought of what was destroyed brings tears to their eyes, they remain hopeful for what’s to come next, which includes a baby coming in July.

“This had to be for a better reason, you know what I mean. Everybody lived through it, and I have to stay positive about it,” Eging said.

The family has a GoFundMe page to help with the costs of replacing their belongings and finding a new home.

The couple shared more photos from the fire with Action News Jax Tuesday. You can see them here.

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