‘Grandpa built it with his own hands’: Generational home burns to the ground just south of Pueblo

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) says a home burnt just south of Pueblo, burnt to the ground on Tuesday night. The family whom the home belonged to is now grappling with the devastating loss of the generational house, built by their grandfather.

On Tuesday night, Pueblo County sheriffs deputies say their crews arrived at the scene only to find the home was already fully engulfed in flames; adding the blaze was even visible from I-25. See photos taken by those crews, below:

PCSO says the fire appears to have come from the chimney, however they are still investigating at this time. They added that no one was home at the time the fire broke out, and there were no injuries reported, however, the home was deemed a total loss.

Dustin Williams who was living in the home, tells KRDO13 that on Tuesday evening just after 5 p.m. he arrived at the home to see a larger than usual amount of smoke coming from the chimney, as well as another part of the house.

Upon going inside he says said he was inundated with thick, black smoke, and eventually had to drop to his hands and knees, and feel his way back to the front door to safety.

"I said it's gone. I knew it wasn't going to survive." said a teary-eyed Williams, who saw the damages in the daylight for the first time on Wednesday afternoon. "I was kind of hoping to come back and see the house still here, and just imagine that it was just a figment of my my imagination" he added.

Williams and his older sister, Hannah Archuleta, explain that they've had three generations grow up in the home, including themselves.

"Pulling up [to the house], my emotions flooded. I broke out in tears 'cause my childhood home. It's-- It's gone. The home I wanted to raise a family in is gone," said Williams.

"All the fun that we had playing out here. Right here. My brother and I used to bounce the volleyball off the top part of [the house] explained Archuleta, saying the memories are endless at the property.

Williams, who has been living in the home and doing work to it to have his own family in one day, now, doesn't know where to begin.

"Sometimes ... I don't think I'm going to bounce back. You know, it's already hard enough to survive now and live, you know, on a day to day basis." he said.

If you'd like to help the Williams' family with their financial efforts to recover from the devastating loss, you can click here.