CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Five people are without a home after a house fire took everything from them. Now, one man who was inside when the flames erupted is speaking out.

WCIA previously reported on a house fire on Winding Lane and Fairview Drive in Champaign. It happened just before 7 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. 

The Champaign Fire Department said it was an accidental fire caused by electrical issues. 

“It’s a horrible start to the new year,” Gregory Fultz said. “It’s very bad.”

The holiday took a tragic turn for Fultz and the four others living in the now-condemned home.

“The fire started on the main floor of the house,” he said. “Thank God we all got out safe, but it literally took everything I had.”

He was upstairs when another person living in the home told him about the flames.

“By then the fire’s [was] up the wall, it’s halfway across the ceiling, there’s no stopping it,” Fultz said.

No one was hurt, but the fire took everything from him. 

“I don’t have no ID,” he said. ‘The only clothes I have is what’s on me. Thank God my friend gave me this coat. I’m just in a bad situation.”

Fultz grew up in army bases while his father served. Years later, he followed in those footsteps himself, going on to serve in Germany and Bosnia. The brotherhood he found in the military is now his saving grace. 

“For a veteran to another veteran, or a soldier to another soldier, it’s an unwritten bond,” Fultz said. “The guy I’m staying with, he had it a lot worse, he was in Iraq and he’s seen some pretty horrible stuff, but God bless he’s here because he’s helping me with somewhere to stay for a few days.”

Beyond that, he doesn’t know what the future holds, and he said he’s been going in circles trying to find help. 

“It’s one resource then they’ll send me to another resource and I end up back at the same resource, so it’s a lot of talking [but] nothing’s happening,” Fultz said. 

Now, the veteran is trying to get in touch with family to figure out next steps. He’s hopeful that his luck will change in the rest of the new year. 

You can support Fultz’s GoFundMe here.