Holiday Tragedy

A lifetime of memories...and a joyful holiday season gone in a matter of minutes. There's not much left to Eric and Brenda Nelson's home. A fire destroyed their Gulf Breeze house early Friday morning. The fire was intense, relentless and consumed the entire structure.

"Oh it's just tragic, especially this time of the year," says Lenn Jackson, a neighbor of the Nelson's. "It just makes you feel empty inside, it reminds us of the hurricane when people came home and their houses were gone."

"It was lighting up the whole woods back there," says neighbor Ryan Kirby. "We live about two streets back and we thought it was our house on fire it was bright."

The Nelson's lost it all, including their Christmas tree, their presents and the family pet. The couple will spend Christmas with neighbors and friends.
The couple told fire investigators they were burning a candle several hours before the fire. The state fire marshal's office is investigating.