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Family picks up the pieces after Christmas night blaze
1231 Christmas fire family
Daniel and Amanda Jaudon lost their home on Ralph Rahn Road to a Christmas night fire.

How to help
To contribute to the account to assist the Jaudon family, visit www.gofundme.com/jc17d8

An Effingham County family’s home was destroyed by a fire on Christmas evening.

Daniel and Amanda Jaudon and their young daughter were not home when the fire started. The family’s dog died in the fire, and they lost nearly all of their belongings.

“I’m just trying to stay as positive as I can,” Daniel Jaudon said. “As a family, we’re still here and nobody’s hurt. We did lose a pet, but my wife and I and our little girl are fine.”

The fire started around 6:10 p.m. Thursday and engulfed the Jaudons’ home on Ralph Rahn Road, according to Rincon Fire Chief Corey Rahn. Rincon, Springfield and Effingham County firefighters responded.

Rahn described the house as “a total loss.” The electrical fire was caused by a faulty outlet in the laundry room, investigators determined.

“I told them the true blessing was the fire happened during the day. It wasn’t at 2 a.m. when everyone was asleep,” said Effingham County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Dan Mealor. “That easily could’ve been detrimental.”

An account to help the family has been established on the fundraising site GoFundMe.com. To make a donation, visit www.gofundme.com/jc17d8.

The family has insurance, Jaudon said, but “I don’t know what uninsured expenses we’re looking at.” He thanked the community for the donations of clothing and household items the Jaudons have received since the fire.

“The generosity of the community has been overwhelming,” Jaudon said. “We’re very grateful and appreciative of what everybody has done so far.”

The family is staying with Daniel’s father, whose house is about three miles from where they used to live. Since space to store items is limited, the best way to help the Jaudons is by donating money or gift cards, according to the GoFundMe page.

The family had been home “all day” on Christmas, Jaudon said. They left that evening to celebrate Christmas with Amanda’s parents in Pineora.

“We had been there maybe 15 minutes before I got the call the house was on fire,” he said.