Georgia family of five′s home burns down while they plan grandmother’s funeral

ELBERT COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia family is fighting a number of battles, including the loss of their home and all their belongings.

Justin Patterson says he and his family were in Gainesville, Georgia on Sunday planning his mother-in-law’s funeral. When they returned to their Elbert County home, they were shocked to find a pile of ash in its place.

Patterson says that he noticed something was wrong when he pulled into the driveway and the gate wasn’t closed and the dogs weren’t barking.

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That’s when he says his daughter let out a “blood-curdling” scream and the family realized their home was gone.

Patterson says they can replace their homes and the things inside it, but they can’t replace the family’s dogs. He says that they always kept their dogs inside the air conditioning when they left the house, especially when temperatures are getting close to 100 degrees.

The day after the fire, Patterson says the family of five attended the grandmother’s funeral.

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Only adding to the family’s stress is Patterson’s wife Melisa’s rare pregnancy that he says leaves her with a just a 10% survival rate.

Without anywhere for the family to go, Melisa is still battling placenta increta. According to the Mayo Clinic, placenta increta causes “the placenta to invade the muscles of the uterus.”

The Mayo Clinic says that placenta increta can cause serious bleeding after birth and a life-threatening condition that prevents the blood from clotting normally.

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Elbert County fire officials confirmed that no one was injured in the fire.

There is no word yet on how it started.

A Gofundme campaign has been set up to benefit the Patterson family.

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