'There's nothing left': After wildfire, Texas families mourn the loss of their homes

CARBON, Texas — In the midst of a raging wildfire in near Eastland, a family in Carbon returned to their home to see it had perished in the fire. 

Debbie Copeland shared heartbreaking video footage of the ruins on Facebook Live, which depicted what remained of their home: ashes and rubble.

You can watch the video here: 

Carbon is a town in Eastland County, with a population of nearly 272 as of the 2010 U.S. Census, and is located just over 15 miles south of Eastland. 

According to the Texas Forest Service wildfire map, Carbon is located just south of where the Kidd fire has been burning. The Kidd fire is one of four main fires burning in Eastland County, making up more than 34,000 acres of burned land on its own. The other three nearby fires are: Wheatfield Fire (west of Carbon), Oak Mott Fire (south of Carbon) and the Walling Fire (west of Carbon).

“Six in the morning and we just came out to look at what’s left … and there’s nothing left,” Copeland said. “My sidewalk is left.”

Copeland said in the video that the remains of her family’s home “looks a little bit like a bomb site.”

“Y’all pray for our little community,” Copeland pleaded. “It’s not just Carbon. There were fires all over the place. Thank y’all for your many prayers and outpouring of love, and we don’t know what we’re going to do next.”

The Copelands told WFAA they lived at that home for more than 20 years and thought they would live there forever. Debbie Copeland said when the trooper knocked on her door telling her to evacuate, she grabbed her wedding ring but could not find her husband’s.

Juanita Ponce, a neighbor of the Copelands, also lost her home in the fire. The loss was particularly tough for Ponce, whose young child recently died. She had mementos of her child in her home that burned, she told WFAA.

A GoFundMe fundraiser has been started to help the Copelands with the loss of their home. You can find more information about that fundraiser here.

Resident Raena St. Peter had to evacuate her home in Carbon.

“I went in the house and kind of held my hands up and thought what do I do. What do I grab where do I start?” said St. Peter.

So, she grabbed Lucy the family dog and ran out the door, and as she drove off, she took some pictures.

“The last view I had in the review mirrors is flames. That’s when I knew how close It was to our house,” said St. Peter.

Her beautiful dream home that was just remodeled was reduced to ash.

For more on the developments on the Eastland Complex Fires, follow along in this story. 

Here’s raw video from Thursday night showing how fast the flames were spreading: