Firefighters have finished their investigation into a Christmas morning fire that destroyed the home of a world-renowned Greenville musician.The fire broke out about 11 a.m. Sunday morning at the home of pianist Emile Pandolfi, off Roper Mountain Road, according to officials with the Greenville branch of the American Red Cross.According to Boiling Springs Fire District Fire Marshal Jeff Nelson, based on burn patterns, the fire started in the attic above the garage as well as the laundry area. Nelson added that the source of the fire has not been determined, but they are not ruling out an electrical cause.Flames and smoke heavily damaged the house and took the lives of two of the family pets, Red Cross officials said.Fire crews were unable to reach the scene before the house was destroyed, Red Cross officials said.Pandolfi was away from the home when the fire broke out, according to a letter he emailed to family and friends. Several of his family members inside the home were able to escape the flames by breaking an upstairs window, escaping onto the roof and using a neighbor's extension ladder to get to the ground, according to the letter. All possessions in the home were lost in the fire, officials said.Emile Pandolfi is an accomplished pianist who has sold more than 2 million records in the past 20 years, according to his website. "He can do anything. He's the master of the keyboard," said Virginia Uldrick, founder of the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities and Pandolfi's high school music teacher.The Music Club of Greenville said it plans to open a fund Tuesday to help the Pandolfi family."I was involved in a house fire once myself and I know there are a lot of things you just don't ever recover," said spokeswoman Beth Lee. "We would love to provide an avenue for the community to support his efforts."All Palmetto Bank branches will accept donations. For more information, call Lee at 864-250-0027 or 964-905-8719.The following is the letter Pandolfi emailed to his friends and family on Monday, describing the events of the previous day.Letter From Emile Pandolfi Hi everyone, OK, well.... how to start: Hope all of you had a very merry merry Christmas. Actually, despite a fair sized setback, we did too. Not to create any mystery, I am writing this post to let all my friends and acquaintances know that, while everyone in the family is fine and safe, that today, Christmas Day, 2011, our house burned down. Yup, kind of a bummer. But these unexplainable things do happen, and there you go. We are very fortunate to have all gotten safely out of the house in what was a very fast moving (a matter of a few minutes) fire that completely destroyed our home. A real kick in the head!The very sad news is that we lost two wonderful dogs in the fire. I can honestly say, that that is the one loss it is difficult to shoulder. Were it not for the loss of these very special pets,who were members of the family, we could all walk away from this episode without a care, and carry on forward. For the rest, to quote my mom, “It’s only things”.But all of that is news.The real story is about people helping us through what was a somewhat difficult event. So this is a public thank you to everyone involved in this memorable day. There are so many people to thank.I was away from the house when the fire began. I was without a phone, and so my family could not reach me to tell me what was going on. I did not get back there until the firefighters were working their magic, protecting people and property from any further damage.First of all, I want to let everyone know how incredibly proud I am of my family’s behavior at the moment of the fire itself, and throughout the day. They all behaved efficiently, intelligently, and elegantly, traits which seem to run in the family. Their quick responses to the situation saved their lives. They had but 2 or 3 minutes to get out of the burning house which had become engulfed in flame very shortly after the fire was discovered. They escaped onto the roof through an upstairs window that my son-in-law broke through . A wonderful, quick-thinking neighbor brought over a ladder immediately and they all climbed down the 20 feet or so to safety.Next, for those of you who do not already know, the support services for this kind of thing are incredible. Firefighters are not just excellent professionals at what they do; they are genuinely caring, compassionate individuals who do so much more than put out fires. So many of them spent hours with us, trying to make a difficult time easier. The extra efforts they make to find that one precious item for you in the rubble - a wedding ring - a diploma, that sort of thing, makes one realize that they understand - very really - what you must be going through.The other professionals are The Red Cross. It did not take long at all for them to bring clothing, food and much needed guidance. They provided us with hotel, clothes, and, most importantly, genuine concern and much-needed information about where do we go from here.OK, for the best part: the thing is, people are so incredibly kind, generous, and helpful in a very real, deeply caring, meaningful way, that it is a humbling and gratifying experience. People are just wonderful. This comes as no news to anybody, I know, because we have all experienced or witnessed the kindness of friends and strangers in trying situations. But it bears repeating; most people are incredibly kind, empathetic, and sincere. We received very genuine offers of places to stay, to move in, in fact, from people we barely know.We lack for nothing in the immediate needs. Nothing. We have been given gifts of clothing, food, housing, even money from acquaintances and neighbors we hardly know.This is a public thank you to all of you who helped us throughout the day. There are too many of you to thank personally. I don’t even know some of your names, so please, if you read this, pass our thanks along to those we may not have had a chance to thank personally.We are rich, indeed, in the only and best way that one can be. We are surrounded, loved, and cared for by so many friends and new friends; and that is so much more than just an expression of gratitude. It is a fact. There is no richness like the wealth that comes from loving people who cannot wait to lend a hand. We are truly the wealthiest people you know. Thank you all very sincerely. emile