LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. - A Lehigh Acres family is displaced after a fire erupted in their home Wednesday night. To make matters worse, the family is big - a mother and father raising six children.

From the outside the home doesn't look bad, but the sheriff's office says it's the damage inside that makes it unlivable.

"It's very scary when kids see fire, so they were very scared," Gean Baptiste Daniel said.

The fire started when some of the children were cooking inside the home. They panicked and tried putting it out by throwing clothes on the flames - making it worse.

"We saw the smoke in the back of the house," a neighbor said.

After firefighters put out the fire, neighbor Delilah Perez checked on the family.

"We walked over there to find out if they were okay, but they really didn't elaborate on anything. They were kind of private about what happened," Perez said.

So private, the owner didn't want WINK News to see what was ruined inside. The report says there was damage to the kitchen cabinets, stove, walls, and floor.

"The kitchen was messed up and we have to do a lot of clean up and try to get new kitchen cabinets," Daniel said.

The sooner the garbage bags are out, the sooner his family can move back in. In the meantime, the Red Cross is lending a hand.

"We've put them up into a hotel close to their home and we've given them an assistance card to help pay for food," Carlene Sharples with Lee County Red Cross said.

"If they didn't come, we would be out at this present time," Daniel said.

Even though the estimated damage inside is $8,000, the family hopes to return home by the end of the week.