ORANGE PARK, Fla. – A Jacksonville mother of three says she lost everything in a matter of seconds.
In May, Christy McCutchen’s home on the Westside caught fire. The fire destroyed her home and everything that was inside.
“It was just crazy,” McCutchen said. “I have never been through nothing like that. And I don’t know anybody else that’s been through something like that.”
McCutchen, a school bus driver, said the fire woke her up while she was in bed.
“I heard a loud boom, and I just saw fire falling, fire falling from everywhere,” she said.
The mother and her children -- ages 2, 4 and 14 -- all made it out of the home. As the fire burned, McCutchen was determined to save her home from the flames.
“I just started getting water from the sink with pots,” McCutchen said. “I just couldn’t see all my stuff go up.”
Firefighters believe the fire started in the attic of the house.
The home is unlivable. The walls are black from smoke. Insulation covers the home like snow.
“I furnished my whole house in under a year because COVID and everything happened, and I had just started school buses like two weeks before the fire happened,” McCutchen said.
After staying in multiple hotels, she’s scrambling to put a roof back over her family’s head.
“I don’t even know what we’re going to do after tomorrow,” she said.
McCutchen said that after Friday, she and her children must be out of their hotel. She’s setup an online account to raise funds.