LAVEEN, Ariz. - Three children escaped a burning home in Laveen late Saturday night. They're okay, but the home appears to be a total loss.
Fire investigators say the Christmas tree may be to blame. The most severe damage to the home appears to near the family room window.
The fire broke out around 11 p.m. Saturday. A teen and two younger children were home at the time.
"The little girls told us, they came out from the side of the house right here. They couldn't get out through the living room because it went up so fast," said neighbor Steven Cuen.
Outside the home near 75th Avenue and Baseline, crews piled up charred pieces of furniture on the driveway on Sunday.
"There was a lot of crying. I mean, I felt bad for them, they lost a lot of stuff. They emptied a lot of stuff out of the house from the living room and it was all gone. Everything was gone."
Neighbors tell us you could see the family's Christmas tree in the family room window. Recently, Phoenix firefighters warned residents to get rid of their Christmas trees. The older and drier they get, the quicker they can burn.
Earlier this week firefighters lit a dry Christmas tree on fire to demonstrate how dangerous they can be. Within seconds, the tree was engulfed in flames.
"It is very important to start taking these things down, taking the trees out of the home especially if they are very dry. Taking the lights off, because any kind of electrical malfunction can start a fire. As you could see in our demo, within ten seconds the fire was fully involved in that room."
While firefighters say the Christmas tree was where the fire started, they haven't said exactly what sparked the blaze.
Firefighters are urging people to recycle their Christmas trees
