A fire tore through the Sullivan family home around midnight on Dec. 25, but the kindness of neighbors has kept this from being an entirely black Christmas, family members said.

“I’m seeing neighbors I didn’t even know I had,” said James Sullivan of 23 Higgins St., Goffstown.

The smell of smoke hung thick in his living room and water saturated the carpet underfoot as Sullivan surveyed the damage the day after the emergency.

The blaze started when an ember from a pilot stove in the first-floor living room floated into the second-story bedroom and sparked a blaze, said James Sullivan Jr.

James Sullivan Jr., 19, said the fire started in the room his sister, Sheena Bishop, shared with her daughter, Teairra. Both of them were able to escape the house unharmed.

Sullivan Jr. said his younger brothers, Ryan and Adam Sullivan, exited the home without injury, along with a nephew, James Sr., a family friend and two dogs.

A third dog cowered in the back bedroom, but the fire was extinguished before the flames reached that space, Sullivan Jr. said.

The family’s Christmas presents also remained safe in that room, and firefighters helped them move those items to the family truck after the emergency, he said.

Goffstown firefighters arrived on the scene with mutual aid from Manchester and Bedford, and were able to contain the fire fairly quickly, said Goffstown Fire Lt. Bill Connor. “The fire damaged several rooms in the home, and you had a lot of smoke and water damage that comes with that,” Connor said.

Despite the extensive smoke and water damage, Connor said he believed the home could be repaired.

On Dec. 26, members of the Sullivan family spent time touring the home with insurance agents to assess the damage. The Red Cross of Greater Manchester has assisted the family with temporary housing since the fire, James Sullivan Sr. said.