SNOW HILL, N.C. (WNCT) — A Greene County family has been left without a home after a fire engulfed a home that had been in the family for generations.

The fire began Friday evening around 9 p.m. First responders contained it by 11 p.m. Saturday morning, the house caught fire for the second time. It took crews about four hours to extinguish.

The home belongs to Jason Volunteer Fire Department firefighter Nathaniel Ashley. He said the potential cause of the fire was a faulty heater on the front porch of the home that combusted when a member of the fire turned it on. He also said after 10 years of saving people in his community from fire,

“The brothers and sisters I got in the fire service, I can’t thank them enough,” Ashley said. “It’s a little bit different when you go from fighting somebody else’s house to fighting your own. It’s nice to have reassurance that we go through training to try and prevent stuff like this from happening, but like you said, nobody is ever immune to it, and to see people like that have your back in any moment in time, saying thanks just isn’t enough.”

Ashley said one member of the family is facing second and third-degree burns and only two of their seven dogs survived the fire.

The family is asking for donations of any kind. The family lost all of their belongings, including diapers for their youngest. Donations can be dropped off at 303 Pine Cone St. in Snow Hill. It’s the house beside Ashley’s home.