A family of 14 is left picking up the pieces near Monte Alto after a fire left their home in ruins.

“It's awful to have something, and then have it all taken away overnight,” Noraelia Garces said.

Garces is the grandmother of the household and lived at the home with her son and his family.

The family wasn’t home when the fire happened early Wednesday morning, Garces said.

Garces said her son and his wife were dropping off their children at school when their neighbor called to tell them their house was on fire.

Garces said her son built the home from the ground up. It took him four years to complete the project.

The Edcouch and Elsa fire departments responded to the fire.

Among the charred debris are burnt food and clothes, just some of the things the family is now without.

“They we

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